![\"chicagoland](\"http:\/\/us.weatheramerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/chicagoland-rain-2507.jpg\")
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CHICAGO<\/strong> \u2014 A violent wave of thunderstorms<\/strong> swept through Chicagoland<\/strong> on Thursday afternoon<\/strong>, leaving behind a trail of damage<\/strong>, from snapped trees<\/strong> and power outages<\/strong> to airport delays<\/strong> and an apparent explosion<\/strong> in Berwyn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shortly after 3 p.m.<\/strong>, Doppler radar<\/strong> detected intense rainfall<\/strong>, dumping between 1 to 2 inches<\/strong> in just 30 minutes<\/strong>, prompting the National Weather Service<\/strong> to issue urgent flood advisories<\/strong> across Cook<\/strong>, DuPage<\/strong>, and Will Counties<\/strong>. Gusty winds<\/strong>, some clocking above 70 mph (113 km\/h)<\/strong>, battered the area, including a recorded blast<\/strong> of wind at Midway International Airport<\/strong> at 3:02 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n By evening, ComEd<\/strong> confirmed that nearly 33,000 households<\/strong> were left without electricity<\/strong>. Earlier in the day, outages had peaked at close to 50,000 customers<\/strong>, especially in Will<\/strong>, DuPage<\/strong>, and Kane Counties<\/strong>. In Northwest Indiana<\/strong>, NIPSCO<\/strong> reported around 3,000 customers<\/strong> affected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Chicago’s Englewood<\/strong> neighborhood, a massive tree<\/strong> near West 71st Street<\/strong> and South Seeley Avenue<\/strong> was ripped from the ground, damaging three homes<\/strong>. One home sustained a shattered window<\/strong> and a broken awning<\/strong>, while another resident, Vivian Jones<\/strong>, lamented damage to her fence and noted she had previously alerted the city about the tree’s condition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over in South Shore<\/strong>, a large limb broke off near East 78th Street<\/strong> and South Exchange Avenue<\/strong>, crashing into the street just feet from Metra tracks<\/strong>. No injuries<\/strong> were reported, but power lines<\/strong> were brought down onto sidewalks, posing serious safety concerns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A dramatic moment unfolded in Berwyn<\/strong>, where police and fire officials responded to an apparent explosion<\/strong> at a gas station<\/strong> near Ogden Avenue<\/strong> and Oak Park Avenue<\/strong>. Authorities are still investigating whether a lightning strike<\/strong> may have sparked the blaze<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Downed trees also caused major traffic disruptions<\/strong> across South Jeffery Boulevard<\/strong>, the 1600 block of West 52nd Street<\/strong>, and the 8000 block of South Jeffery Boulevard<\/strong>. Some incidents involved trees tangled with power lines<\/strong>, while others blocked entire roadways.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A video shared by Marlene Lopez-Cortez<\/strong> from Lisle<\/strong>, reposted by the Illinois Storm Chasers<\/strong>, showed storm winds tearing through a screened patio<\/strong>, flipping furniture and toppling a cabinet. The footage captured the raw force of the severe gusts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Both O\u2019Hare<\/strong> and Midway airports<\/strong> experienced temporary ground stops<\/strong>, stranding travelers and delaying flights. At O’Hare<\/strong>, a gust of 64.4 mph (103.6 km\/h)<\/strong> was logged, while Gary Chicago International Airport<\/strong> in Indiana<\/strong> reported winds above 63 mph (101.4 km\/h)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Naperville<\/strong>, near Naper Boulevard<\/strong> and Collingwood Drive<\/strong>, trees and wires were knocked down, and in Woodridge<\/strong>, limbs as thick as 6 inches<\/strong> in diameter littered the ground. Meanwhile, in Romeoville<\/strong>, power poles were reported snapped<\/strong>, further straining the electrical grid.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Events weren\u2019t spared either: Algonquin Summer Concerts<\/strong> were canceled due to the storm threat, and heat advisories<\/strong> across Illinois<\/strong> and parts of Indiana<\/strong> were lifted as the system brought temporary relief<\/strong> from the sweltering temperatures that had plagued the region.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The National Weather Service<\/strong> maintained an active stream of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings<\/strong>, Flood Advisories<\/strong>, and even Marine Warnings<\/strong>, extending from Winthrop Harbor<\/strong> to Michigan City<\/strong>, as the storm line advanced eastward at speeds up to 50 mph (80 km\/h)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emergency crews across Berwyn<\/strong>, Kane County<\/strong>, DuPage County<\/strong>, and beyond continued working into the night to assess damage<\/strong>, restore power<\/strong>, and keep roads safe. As of now, residents are urged to treat all downed lines as live<\/strong> and report any hazards to ComEd<\/strong> or emergency services<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHICAGO \u2014 A violent wave of thunderstorms swept through Chicagoland on Thursday afternoon, leaving behind a trail of damage, from snapped trees and power outages to airport delays and an apparent explosion in Berwyn. Shortly after 3 p.m., Doppler radar detected intense rainfall, dumping between 1 to 2 inches in just 30 minutes, prompting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n