Power at Willis Tower to be fully restored this weekend, ComEd says

CHICAGO - For four straight days, Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower has been in the dark. Now, the end is in sight. The tower is set to be fully lit by the weekend.

It is an eerie sight at night to see Chicago’s tallest building standing above the rest in the dark. If you are a Chicagoan, you probably still call it the Sears Tower. The name changed in 2009. Either way, no one has seen it like this.

The weekend rainfall hit record levels, causing the Chicago River to overflow the sub-level basement of the building.

The ComEd substation was completely submerged.

“Think about if your basement gets flooded. Think about drying your basement out to get it ready. There was five feet of water. We had to dry all of our equipment out,” said Cheryl Maletich, ComEd Senior Vice President of Transmission and Substations.

The building’s largest tenant is United Airlines and most of their employees are working remotely now.

Several local TV and radio stations were knocked off air when the flooding happened.

Even though it looks grim, there is some good news in the air.

“We have successfully removed the water from the building and ComEd is conducting a full and thorough assessment. We expect to restore initial power over the weekend,” said David Moore, ComEd’s Senior Vice President and Portfolio Director.

ComEd has been at the Willis since Sunday night, with many of their crews working at the tower in the dark.