Thousands still without power across Illinois, Northwest Indiana after storms on Monday
Thousands of people were still in the dark Tuesday morning after two rounds of storms swept through the area the day before.
Severe storms prompted tornado and thunderstorm warnings across Illinois and Northwest Indiana.
According to ComEd, more than 530,000 customers lost power, and crews worked overnight to restore power.
As of Tuesday morning, over 230,000 ComEd customers are still without power across the city and suburbs.
ComEd expects to restore power to 80% of impacted customers by noon on Wednesday. You can track the progress on the ComEd outage map.
At the peak of the severe weather, 61,000 NIPSCO customers were also without power in Northwest Indiana.
Early Tuesday, that number was down to fewer than 20,000 customers. Most of the outages were reported in Chesterton and Valparaiso.
Nipsco as of Tuesday morning had not provided an estimate of when residents will have power restored. You can check for updates on the outage map on the NIPSCO website.
During the storms, high-speed winds ripped through a row of townhomes in southwest suburban Hazel Crest, Illinois, leaving dozens of people displaced.
In the west suburban Glen Ellyn, storms uprooted a tree that then fell onto a home over 100 years old. The tree was uprooted during a tornado warning in the area.
Red Cross opening shelters after severe storms
The American Red Cross is offering assistance to people who are affected by the storms in Lake, Will, and southern Cook counties.
The Red Cross opened two shelters in the south suburban Steger and in north suburban Gurnee.
Anyone in need can get food, charge their devices and find community resources.
Search for missing contractor in Downers Grove storm sewer
Storms also hampered search efforts for a contractor who was swept into a storm sewer in Downers Grove on Monday afternoon.
Rescuers Tuesday morning were calling the search a recovery operation, meaning it is not believed that the missing worker survived.
Rescue crews with at least half a dozen west suburban fire departments were seen diving headfirst into the storm sewer near Curtiss and Washington streets in downtown Downers Grove in search of two contractors who became trapped in the storm sewer.
Around 3 p.m., neighbors took video showing one of the contractors being wheeled into an ambulance after they were rescued after a two-hour search. This contractor was found about 200 feet from where he went into the system, and was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in good condition.
But as rushing water continued to fill the tunnel, crews were forced to suspend their search for the second worker on Monday, calling conditions too dangerous. Officials have now transitioned from a rescue to a recovery mission.
Downers Grove resident Mike Lane compared the situation to the 2018 rescue of a youth soccer team from Tham Luang Cave in Thailand.
"I thought this was going to be like a movie or something," he said. "I mean, it is like the scariest thing ever."
The Village of Downers Grove said the search will resume when the conditions are safe.
