Thousands across Illinois still without power ahead of more storms

CHICAGO - As ComEd works to restore power across the Chicago area, another round of severe weather Thursday evening could complicate those efforts. The threat comes after Wednesday's storms knocked out power to 450,000 customers.

The backstory:

In less than 24 hours, 450,000 ComEd customers were left in the dark — and without air conditioning during a stretch of hot and humid weather. Officials say it could be days before power is fully restored.

ComEd crews are working to quickly and safely restore power in affected communities. By 5 p.m. Thursday, roughly 130,000 customers were still without power.

On Thursday afternoon, officials said they expect to restore power to 80 percent of remaining customers by 11 p.m. Saturday.

Still, in some pockets, the damage is so extensive that crews will need to rebuild parts of the system.

"Our most impacted areas were from Crestwood to Chicago and from Alsip to Joliet," said David Perez, ComEd executive vice president and chief operating officer.

ComEd has called in crews from partner agencies, bringing the total number of utility workers on the ground to 3,000.

"I was walking the most impacted neighborhoods, the trees that came down on top of our infrastructure completely took down the poles, the wires, the equipment," Perez said.

Perez said some communities are facing longer wait times for the lights to come back on due to the extent of the damage in their neighborhoods.

"This is not a restoration, it's actually a rebuild," Perez said. "The amount of trees that came down and branches on the infrastructure is significant."

Meanwhile, it was all-hands-on deck near 125th Street and Ridgeland Avenue in Palos Heights where neighbors pitched in to clean up downed trees and other debris.

"The biggest issue is probably the refrigerator," said resident Maggie Busch.

"I put generators, now everything is okay," added Beata Styrczula.

"Last night really wasn't all that bad, we kept everything closed and it was pretty good. I don't know how today will be, and they're not anticipating until Saturday at 11 p.m. so it's kind of a long haul," said Darlene Prestia.

The City of Palos Heights opened the Palos Heights Recreation Center as a cooling and charging center from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday. Officials said they plan to do the same on Friday.

What's next:

Customers can track power outages using ComEd's Outage Map.

ComEd urges anyone who encounters a downed power line to report it by calling 1-800-EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661).

Residents without power who need a place to cool off are encouraged to check with their local community or city government for information on cooling centers and other available resources.

ChicagoWeatherNews