100,000 Still Without Power As "Unrelenting" Heat Wave Settles In Area

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 2, 2012 2:10PM

More than 100,000 homes, mostly in the north and west suburbs, are still without power this morning after Sunday's awe-inspiring but furiously brief storm that brought hail in some areas and wind gusts of up to 90 mph. The timing of the power outages isn't good as the National Weather service has issued a special weather statement until 4 p.m. today and a "rather unrelenting" heat wave settles into the area for most of the week.

ComEd officials said it could be several days before power is fully restored. Yesterday's storms knocked out power to over 250,000 homes, knocked down trees across the greater Chicago area, and swooped in so fast it caught many people unaware. 60 kayakers had to be rescued from the Chicago River, and Chicago's 911 center recorded 50 downed power wire calls, 35 street lamp outages and over 200 calls of fallen trees or branches.

O'Hare Airport recorded winds as strong as 60 mph, but the National Weather Service heard reports of winds as high as 90 mph in central DuPage County. The storm was so fierce a Northlake retirement home had to be evacuated. 271 residents of the Concord Retirement Community were relocated to area hotels and other residences after it lost power. Some residents had to be carried 15 floors down because the power outage affected elevators.