Power Lines Down, Trees Uprooted In Joliet, Tornado Hits Channahon

JOLIET — Monday night's storms brought more havoc to Joliet area residents as Joliet police issued a social media bulletin around 10:30 p.m. letting everyone know that there were numerous reports of power lines down throughout Joliet from the storm.

Channahon Police shut down I-55 in both directions due to downed power lines Monday night, and as of Tuesday morning, the Will County Sheriff's Office said the highway remained closed. IDOT also said I-55 was closed in both directions between U.S. 6 and River Road.

On Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service confirmed at tornado that was rated at least an EF-1, with winds of 86–110 mph, had touched down near Channahon, traveling along a 25-mile path to Matteson. The tornado traveled through Elwood, Manhattan, and into Frankfort. It continued to travel east, crossing over Jackson Creek Preserve, Route 45, and northeast up to Route 30.

Preliminary findings also indicate a tornado from Crest Hill to Lockport on Monday.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, ComEd said 150,000 customers remained without power. The utility released a statement saying that it expected 80 percent of outages to be restored by 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the remaining 20 percent to be restored by 6 p.m. on Friday.

Following the storms, many roads were completely blocked or partially blocked because of downed trees or branches. Motorists are urged to use extreme caution when traveling. The city of Joliet posted on Facebook around 1 a.m. that the city knew of at least 50 downed trees, "but that number has been increasing as additional calls have been received," the city noted.

Following the storms Monday, people left the following comments on the Joliet police Facebook page:

• "Marycrest has power lines down and trees."
• "1300 block of Oneida has lots of down power lines and trees."
• "On Herkimer Street two power lines blocking road between Ohio and Jackson."
• "Houbolt has trees blocking the road."
• One person named Andy asked, "Who should we call for a fallen tree on the house?"
• Andy's comment drew a response from someone named Paula, "Your insurance and the police if you're in danger."
• "We are far west side of Joliet near Minooka and Plainfield. Something hit our house hard. Never heard a sound like that. Everything on our patio is gone. Shingles all over. Lots of tree debris and a lot of fence damage in the neighborhood," another person alerted the Will & DuPage County PD/FD Scanner Facebook group.

Related Illinois Patch storm coverage:

Tornadoes Confirmed Near Crestwood, Midway, O'Hare In Monday's Storms

Derecho Rips Through Chicago Area: 169,000 Still Without Power