Storm knocks out power, trees in McHenry County Saturday

A strong thunderstorm rolled through McHenry County about 4 p.m. Saturday, downing trees, knocking out power and flooding some streets.

According to ComEd’s online outage map, power was out from Freeport to Joliet on Saturday after the storm passed through northern Illinois.

The storm hit McHenry County hard, with trees and branches knocked down across roads and power lines down from Fox River Grove to Woodstock.

The village of Cary told residents via its Facebook page that it was activating additional resources “to ensure the safe recovery from tonight’s weather event.” Residents were asked to report issues that were not life-threatening to the nonemergency line, 847-639-2341, but to report more dire, life-threatening emergencies by calling 911.

Algonquin residents were asked to avoid the areas affected by downed trees and branches, and to not attempt to move large branches or power lines on their own.

On the village Facebook page, residents were asked to report blocked roads and other hazardous conditions at the nonemergency number, 847-658-4531, or to report online at www.algonquin.org/fixit.

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This tree in the Northwest Herald parking lot on Route 31 in Crystal Lake was one of the victims of the storm that rolled through McHenry County at about 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Janelle Walker)

The National Weather Service in Romeoville said they were hoping to hear reports from McHenry County, as it did not have a lot of details on the thunderstorm, meteorologist Gino Izzi said.

“The storm went through with spots of damage and strong winds, but we do not have a lot of details,” Izzi said. “These thunderstorms were producing damaging, straight-line winds but there was nothing tornadic up there” in McHenry County, he said.

“Another line is moving in now, but it doesn’t look as bad. There are gusty winds, but it does not look as severe as the line earlier,” Izzi said.

On Algonquin Road in Fox River Grove and the Trout Valley area, an excavator was pushing fallen trees and branches off the road to allow traffic through. The road was blocked heading toward Route 14 and toward River Drive North in Algonquin.

The ComEd online outage map showed 721 active power outages, affecting 74,000 customers, as of 6:50 p.m.