ComEd expects to have 99% of outages restored in Illinois by Saturday night following severe storms

ComEd crews working to restore power to thousands of customers in Illinois following damaging storms earlier this week will need a few more days before everything is back to normal, officials said on Thursday.

The rain that has been coming down the past couple days has made the work even harder for crews in the field.

ComEd said they hope 99% of their customers have power back by Saturday night.

The utility said they had 410,000 customers impacted by severe storms on Monday and Tuesday, so even if customers had power after Monday's weather, Tuesday's storms knocked out even more power lines due to extensive and widespread tree damage

Approximately 87% of affected ComEd customers have had their power restored as of Thursday afternoon. As of 4 p.m., approximately 52,000 homes and businesses across northern Illinois were still without power, mainly in south suburbs like Homewood, Flossmoor, Lansing, Chicago Heights, Tinley Park, and Joliet.

The National Weather Service has confirmed a total of six tornadoes touched down in the south and southwest suburbs on Tuesday, including an EF-1 tornado that touched down in the area of Homewood, Glenwood, and Thornton. The tornado touched down near Halsted Street between 183rd Street and 187th Street and damaged a strip mall, apartment buildings, and several homes, before going through a nearby cemetery and the Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve. 

Crews from downstate and around the country have been brought in to help ComEd with power restoration efforts after what ComEd said was the 20th major weather event this year.

ComEd described this year's weather as unprecedented in the last two decades.

After Saturday, ComEd said a few customers could still be without power into Sunday.

"Really, it's just the devastation. I mean, those pockets, we are having to rebuild the grid. It's not a repair at that point. It's new poles, new lines, clearing vegetation, getting access to the areas – which mostly has been performed at this point, but we still have areas of access – and the rain. Working in wet conditions, swampy conditions, also takes a little more time and effort," said ComEd vice president of distribution and operations Jeremy Smith.

In the meantime, the Flossmoor community is stepping in to help one another.

Staff at Homewood-Flossmoor High School were passing out food purchased by the school district to families in need in the wake of the storms.

"Our families matter, our students matter, and so if we say it takes a village, that's what it means. You have to really show up for your families," said Catherine Cook, the school's director of curriculum, instruction and professional development.

Thousands of homes and businesses in Homewood and Flossmoor remained without power on Thursday.

"We have to work together, right? So, as a school, we're the hub of the community, and we feel it's so fitting to be able to give back at this time during a crisis," said Homewood-Flossmoor High School principal Clinton Alexander.

Tawana Jordan was among those who waited in line for a meal away from her hot house.

"We are so thankful, because we have not had power since the storm," Jordan said. "It's just exhausting. Last night, it was just so hot in our house, it was ridiculous, and we were just sweating."

Staff at Homewood-Flossmoor High School said they are considering delaying the scheduled start of school next week for the safety of students and staff. The campus will be closed the rest of this week.

"We're looking at basic needs right now for everyone in the community, and so we definitely want to say that we know education's important. We're excited to start the new year, but first and foremost we want to help our families who just don't have the basic needs and necessities at this point in time," said Homewood-Flossmoor Superintendent Jennifer Norrell.

Homewood-Flossmoor plans to give away more sandwiches on Friday afternoon. Staff said they'll send a text blast to families for specifics on where and when.

Homewood School District 154, which runs three elementary schools in Homewood, said it is delaying the start of its school year one week to Aug. 24. That means the end of the school year also will be pushed back to Friday, June 4, 2027. Students also will be attendance on Pulaski Day on March 1, 2027, to avoid extending the end of the school year to Monday, June 7, 2027.