Strong Spring Storms Blows Through Chicago

Tall trees on your property offer shade, privacy and colorful foliage, but when a strong spring storm blows through, those same trees can quickly turn into a big headache. Today a string of powerful storms moved through the Midwest and into Chicago. The city and its outlying suburbs saw massive power outages, downed trees and power lines and airport delays as tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued throughout the day.

The Chicago Tribune reports that 40,000 residences are currently without power after the astonishing 60,000 foot high cloud storms let go rain and wind gusts up to fifty six miles per hour. While the winds were felt in the city of Chicago, the Northwestern suburbs of Chicago experienced the worst damage from falling trees and power lines that are more open to the elements.

In McHenry County, where I now reside there are at least thirty four thousand residences without power and even more tree lined properties needing cleanup. While driving through the area, several municipal and village vehicles were out removing trees from the street and near power lines so that they could be shredded immediately. Traffic into and out of the city of Chicago was running smoothly throughout the day, and despite a couple reported traffic lights going out there were no major backups.

Most of the reported problems were due to fallen trees, when the wind blows they fall without regard for cars, houses and power lines. In my own yard there are at least fifty full grown trees and about half of them show some signs of the strong winds that came through this morning and late in the afternoon. After walking my property, I discovered that three young trees, and a mature pine tree that formed a privacy hedge, were down and completely cracked at the trunks.

Several smaller branches littered my front lawn and the hill behind our house, but thankfully none landed on top of the house. The tree covered driveway was covered in tree limbs, but an invisible canopy protected both parked cars from getting hit as the tree limbs fell around them. Earlier this year half one of the oldest trees on our property came down on our roof during a strong storm, and another tree lost a branch right on top of the hood and windshield of our vehicle causing damage.

The usually languid creek that runs along side my property, and feeds the Fox River, turned into a swollen, fast moving creek that swept everything in its path downstream. The Fox River itself does not shown signs of rising over its banks yet, but as seen earlier this season, it is just a matter of time until all the water that has fallen reaches the river and flows south.

As tornado season progresses so will the strength and frequency of the storms, but Chicago will be sure to brave each one. Seasoned Midwesterners become used to the annual parade of spring storms and tornado warnings even though each one brings its own surprises.

Ray Quintanilla and Andrew L. Wang, "New tornado watch issued", The Chicago Tribune