600,000 lose power in Chicago storms, possible derecho

Severe weather cut power to over half a million people in the Chicago area and northwestern Indiana as perilous thunderstorms and extreme wind gusts pummeled the region on Tuesday.

Tornado warning sirens howled as the skies darkened. All flights were temporarily stopped at Chicago’s two major airports, and officials warned about delays as the backlog was cleared. In Ohio, power outages swept the state capital region.

More than 600,000 customers lost electricity in Illinois and Indiana, according to poweroutage.us. Lake and Porter counties in Indiana and Will County, Illinois, south of Chicago, were especially hit hard. Farther east in Ohio, more than 166,000 customers were without power.

Sixteen incarcerated people were hospitalized, including one who was transported by helicopter, after lightning struck at a prison complex southwest of Cleveland, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections. 

Two tornadoes touched down just south of Chicago, the National Weather Service said Tuesday night. Photos posted on social media from the Chicago area, and across the state line in Indiana, showed flooded roads, trees tangled in power lines and homes with gashes in their roofs.

Forecasters said a wind gust of 99 mph was recorded in Gary, Indiana. Elsewhere there were numerous reports of gusts of 80 mph or more at personal weather stations.

Preliminary information indicated that the intense system that swept from Iowa into Indiana over several hours qualified as a derecho, the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday evening. Derechos are prolonged straight-line wind events that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far distances. The damage they cause is sometimes comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes.