The derecho swarmed across Chicago uprooting trees. The thunderstorm was terrifying for many as it created a lot of damage across the city.
Dark clouds, strong winds, and derecho, which is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm, battered through Chicago neighborhoods on Monday, August 10. Previously, severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings were issued all over the region. However, the tornado warnings were eventually canceled. Many areas faced funnel clouds and damage, the estimates of which are not available yet.
The most immediate effect of the thunderstorms and derecho is that more than 500,000 homes that have no power in the area. ComEd Customers were left without power on Monday night as the strong winds swept across their neighborhoods. Nearly a quarter-million of those customers are in Cook County and the crews are working everywhere to restore service, as per NBCChicago.
Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood could have faced a tornado, which was described as "crazy" by one of the residents. "It was crazy, madness, really dark," said Rogers Park resident Jasman O'Connell, as per NBCChicago. "I was really scared."
Another resident said he came out of his house to check for the damage to the neighborhood and found his car in half. "I think because 2020," said resident Tom Malinowski. "I think you know what, it has prepared us for stuff like this."
People using several Metra lines also faced problems since there were significant delays or cancellations on Monday, while the high winds and severe weather created chaos around the different counties.
Downtown Chicago As tornado warn storms move in pic.twitter.com/NhcuBylmog
— Brian Richins (@brian_richins) August 10, 2020
The strong weather continued overnight in Chicago with winds of 80 miles per hour seen during the day. On August 10, ComEd said as of 10 p.m. almost 560,000 customers were still with no power while it was restored to 260,000 other customers. The company will need multiple days to restore service to all customers who were affected by the storm and that they should take the necessary steps to stay safe, as per ABC7Chicago.
The brief tornado at Rogers Park could have moved into Lake Michigan and turned into a water spout, but it hasn't been confirmed by the National Weather Service yet. On Chicago's North Side, damaged wires hit the water and it started a fire near Sheffield and Marcy. Meanwhile, in Lincoln Park, a massive tree was uprooted.
These storms in Chicago are just insane....
— Matt Cypher (@MLCypher) August 10, 2020
Tornado sirens whailing. 2020 man..... pic.twitter.com/5lVDWfeJp7
One resident, Ray Velasquez, returned home to a mess. A tree that was there when he moved in 30 years ago was ripped from the ground. "I'm just fortunate that nobody was home. It would have been scary anyways, even if there was no bodily harm," he said.
People rallied together around Cullom and Kedvale, where the neighborhood was littered with uprooted trees and branches. "We had maybe 50 people come out of nowhere," said Ian Woodbury, who was helping to clean up. "First it was about 20 people and then it grew to about 50 to 60 people, coming around and sawing."
#Chicago August 10, 2020. 4 pm. Incoming. pic.twitter.com/jbt2yuIZNe
— Beau Dodson (@BeauDodson) August 10, 2020
A resident of the area explained a scary scene from the area. "I saw fences flying, everything, it was crazy," said Aziz Bayoueh. "We started sawing trees down, this whole area was blocked. You could see trees split in half."
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Disclaimer : This is based on sources and we have been unable to verify this information independently.
