Tornado warning for Cook, DuPage Counties
Air traffic halted after control towers evacuated
By Susan Kuczka and Dan P. Blake
.
3:25 PM CDT, August 23, 2007
JG Wentworth!
UPDATE: The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a tornado warning for central Cook County and DuPage County until 4 p.m. The air traffic control tower at O'Hare International Airport as well as the radar facility in Elgin have been evacuated due to the high winds and tornado warning. As a result, all air traffic approaching the Chicago area has been diverted and all air traffic at O'Hare has been shut down.
As residents north of Chicago raced to protect homes, schools and roadways from floodwaters, a tornado warning was issued this afternoon for areas west of the city.
The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning until 3:15 p.m. for DeKalb and Kane Counties.
"Winds in excess of 80 m.p.h. are likely with this dangerous storm," the warning said.
The advisory says a tornado is expected to be near Elburn by 2:50 p.m. and St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia and North Aurora by 3 p.m. The weather service warned residents to avoid windows and take cover in a basement or in an interior room on the lowest floor if no basement is available. It said mobile homes and vehicles should be abandoned for more substantial shelter.
"There have been several reports of a rotating wall of clouds," National Weather Service meteorologist Nathan Marsili said at 3 p.m. He said there have been sightings of a "lowering of clouds, but not on the ground."
A severe thunderstorm watch was also in effect until 8 p.m. today for Lake, Cook, McHenry and DuPage Counties, as well as other counties across the state
Officials said this afternoon that floodwaters were expected to crest over the banks of the Fox and Des Plaines Rivers as early as Saturday morning.
Mike Warner, executive director of the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, said the Des Plaines River near Gurnee was reported at 8.08 feet this morning and could crest as early as Saturday morning at 9.7 feet, nearly 3 feet above the 7-foot flood stage. The Fox River near Fox Lake and the Chain O' Lakes near Antioch also could flood if rains predicted by the National Weather Service occur, he said.
As sandbagging got under way near those locations today, Warner and other emergency officials saw one silver lining in the forecast: The rains aren't expected to be as heavy as originally predicted.
"We don't need any more rain right now, but at least it's not going to be a huge volume," Warner said.
The expected flooding left emergency workers and residents with no choice but to begin sandbagging efforts.
Officials at Gurnee Grade School put out a call for volunteers to help their sandbagging effort, hoping to avoid a repeat of the flooding that occurred at the far north suburban school in 2004?the last time serious flooding occurred along the Des Plaines River.
Warner's agency was helping coordinate the sandbagging effort, providing technical assistance to emergency workers from various township offices and assessing damage that's already occurred at a few subdivisions along in Fox Lake and to a handful of homes along the Chain O' Lakes in Antioch.
Overnight, rain continued to pound the Chicago area, adding to the problems that have come with the wettest August in more than 15 years.
Two bands of thunderstorms moved into the area from the west, with the first late Wednesday night bringing heavy showers and difficulties for drivers on all of the city's expressways.
The storm, which started last night and continued into the pre-dawn hours, included lightning and winds that reached more than 50 m.p.h. in the city, officials said.
At least 9,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were without power across the area, with about 4,000 in the city, said ComEd spokeswoman Judy Rader.
The rain was heavy and, at one point, it was falling at more than 2 inches an hour, according to the National Weather Service.
In Palos Hills, a house was hit by lightning, but none of the occupants was injured, WGN-Ch. 9 reported. In New Lenox, high winds knocked down a tree at Wolf Road and U.S. Highway 30.
With 6.44 inches already reported at O'Hare International Airport this month, Chicago has had its wettest August since 1990, WGN-Ch. 9 meteorologist Tom Skilling said.
