Chicago Suburbs Without Power Second Day After Worst Storm in a Decade

Following a brief but powerful storm Monday, thousands of residents in Chicago suburbs are still without power. The northern Chicago suburbs have been hit especially hard. The Daily Herald reports that after the storm on Monday, 868,000 ComEd customers lost power. As of Tuesday morning, there are around 369,000 customers still waiting to have their power restored.

Although the storm itself only lasted a few minutes, ComEd has declared it the worst storm in a decade. The company has requested help from Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan crews as well as contractor crews to help restore the power as soon as possible. With approximately 480 crews working in the field, it is still believed that it may take several days to restore power to all customers.

Schools and businesses in the northern suburbs remain closed this morning. Command centers in Libertyville and Crystal Lake have been set up by ComEd crews in Lake County. In Cook County, there is a command center in Bedford Park.

The weather has been hot and muggy in the Chicago suburbs. The heat combined with no power can be a deadly combination. Check on your neighbors, especially if they are elderly. If you need to cool down, you can visit one of the many cooling centers in the area.

Cooling centers in Lake County include:

* Libertyville Civic Center at 135 W. Church St., Libertyville

* Vernon Hills Village Town Hall at 290 Evergreen Drive, Vernon Hills

* Gurnee Mills Mall at 6170 West Grand Ave., Gurnee

* Vernon Area Public Library at 300 Olde Half Day Road, Lincolnshire

* Highland Park Police Station at 1677 Old Deerfield Road, Highland Park

Cook County has several cooling centers, including:

* Calumet Park 831 West 119 St., Chicago

* Englewood 5323 South Western Ave., Chicago

* Garfield 500 North Pulaski Road, Chicago

* Humboldt Park 2753 West North Ave., Chicago

* Lower North 2650 West Fulton St., Chicago

* Northwest 4105 West Chicago Ave., Chicago

* Oakland 610 West Root St., Chicago

* Park Manor 1642 West 59 St., Chicago

* Roseland 11203 S. Ellis St., Chicago

* South Suburban 3301 Wireton, Blue Island

* Southeast 8001 South Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago

* Western 3910 West Ogden, Chicago

* Wicker Park 1279 North Milwaukee, Chicago

* Woodlawn 915 East 63 St., Chicago

* West Suburban 2701 West Lake St., Melrose Park

* Northern 8020 St. Louis Ave., Skokie.

You can search for cooling centers close to your house at Keep Cool Illinois.