Storm damage cleanup underway at Glenwood Academy

Glenwood Academy was supposed to welcome students back, but after destructive storms on Tuesday, clean-up efforts are underway on campus on Wednesday. 

Severe weather left trees downed all over campus, and crews are surveying significant property damage at the residential educational facility. 

Dr. Colleen Carter, the CEO of Glenwood Academy, said that two significant storms hitting back-to-back is unprecedented.  

"Our biggest concern is the trees; we've lost some significant trees that landed on our buildings," Carter said. "We have gutter damage, we've got roof damage." 

Carter said when the power comes back on, school officials can find out more about the extent of the damage. The goal is to welcome students back by Sunday. 

There were staff members on site during the storm, but no one was injured.

Carter said the school, which has been here in Glenwood since 1887, serves many families who are housing and food-insecure. They are a non-profit and rely heavily on financial support.   

The staff has asked for the public's help in getting them ready to welcome students back with a clean-up set for 10 a.m.

"Our students need us," Carter said. "We need to get back open for them."  

The school is also asking for financial donations to speed up recovery efforts, as well as food and bottled water for staff and volunteers.

At its peak, ComEd reported that more than 370,000 customers were experiencing outages, with the hardest-hit areas in the southwest suburbs, where at least three tornadoes had touched down.