More than half of those hit by outages in McHenry County see power restored following severe storms

More severe weather was in the forecast again Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

More thunderstorms are possible Wednesday night as nearly 11,500 McHenry County homes and businesses remained without power as of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after severe storms downed trees and power lines.

The region was first hit by a storm Monday evening that included a tornado touching down in McHenry and then another round of storms Tuesday evening that left damage throughout the county. The National Weather Service advised Wednesday morning that a storm with threats of 60 mph gusts and nickel-sized hail was located near Marengo, moving east at 65 mph.

Lake in the Hills police reported several road closures Tuesday evening from downed trees, and reports into the National Weather Service indicated trees and power lines were down in Crystal Lake, Algonquin, Cary, McHenry, Marengo and Bull Valley with a 67 mph wind gust measured near Harvard.

More rain was in the forecast for Wednesday night with a hazardous weather outlook warning of an elevated risk of thunderstorms and damaging winds of up to 70 mph accompanied by a limited risk of tornado, hail up to a quarter in size and flooding.

Scattered thunderstorms are possible again Thursday afternoon and night, and a few of these could be a severe, according to the outlook, which also warned of an elevated risk of excessive heat for Thursday.

Many McHenry County residents and workers spent Wednesday morning cleaning up debris and dealing with power outages.

ComEd reported about 29,000 people were without power as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday throughout McHenry County. That number had lessened by the morning to about 22,000 in McHenry County by about 8:30 a.m., then 17,000 by 1:30 p.m., 14,000 by 3 p.m. and finally 11,500 by 7:30 p.m.

That includes almost 1,300 in Lake in the Hills, nearly 1,100 in McHenry, nearly 900 in Fox Lake, almost 800 in Cary, about 500 in Woodstock, more than 300 in Crystal Lake and about 200 in Algonquin, according to ComEd as of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Just more than half of Wonder Lake, down from 90% at 3 p.m., remained without power as of 7:30 p.m., and all of Greenwood’s utility customers had their power restored after 100% of ComEd customers there impacted by the outages, according to ComEd.

Crystal Lake-based Davey Tree Experts has received more than 100 calls since Tuesday evening about downed trees requiring removal, said Mary Lindquist, the company’s a client service coordinator.

“For me personally, it’s a lot more of trees on the houses than I’ve experienced in a while,” Lindquist said.

The company has fielded multiple reports of trees falling on and damaging houses, cars and fences, Lindquist said, and its workers are trying to prioritize the most serious situations while they are slammed with requests.

Dave Walsh of the village of Johnsburg's public works department saws through a tree Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 to remove it from across Reed Avenue. This week's storms brought high winds and several tornadoes to northern Illinois, including one that touched down Monday evening in McHenry.

“This is actually one of the busiest storms I’ve encountered since I’ve worked here, over seven years,” Lindquist said.

Caroline Dombrowski, 84, lives on Claire Street in Crystal Lake, in the same house that she did during the 1965 Palm Sunday F-4 tornado that tore through the area, which Dombrowski said destroyed a house at the end of her street. While she escaped damage in 1965, a third of the tree in her yard came down on her house Tuesday night.

“I was just sitting in the living room watching TV. The wind started whipping up and those trees started going crazy. Then I heard a boom, and I knew right away there was a tree on the roof,” she said.

The tree did not make it all the way into the house, but damaged beams of the roof. Dombrowski was still without power Wednesday afternoon, but said she’ll be able to stay in her home, even with the damage.

“I’m pretty happy. I’ve got really great insurance, I’m alive and I’m 84 years old. What more could you ask for?” she said with a laugh.

Jerry Penze of Crystal Lake also considers himself one of the lucky ones: The tree that fell at his house did not make it into his house. Damage was confined to the overhang over his porch, which he said now has some holes from the tree and the eave of the porch also is smashed in.

“After the wind came through, I heard a transformer pop or tree branch pop off too, and it came down and damaged my roof,” Penze said, who lives at the corner of Three Oaks Road and Redwood Street. “The roof damage was not real bad compared to others in the neighborhood. I’ve seen some garages caved in.”

Penze said he was aware of the potential for strong storms Tuesday night but was not expecting the storms to bring damage like they did.

“The lightning was totally freaky. I went outside to survey the damage, and I thought I was going to be hit a couple of times,” he said.

Dave and Rosemarie Herda, of Johnsburg, woke up to find a huge limb of a tree had come down on top of a canopy structure above their boat lift on a channel leading to the Fox River.

Some damage was done to the metal structure, and the couple called the Fox Waterway Agency to come assess the situation and see if its workers could help remove it.

“I was thunderstruck,” Rosemarie Herda said with a laugh. “I shouldn’t make light of it. There is always someone who has it far worse than we do.”

Generally, the Fox Waterway Agency only removes trees if they are obstructing a part of the waterway needed for navigation, agency Superintendent Rob Bowman said.

Fox Waterway’s office was without power midday Wednesday and could have missed reports of trees in the waterway as a result, Bowman said, but it has received a few it is working to address and he expects more to come in as the day goes on and homeowners survey their properties for felled trees.

“Some of our communications have been down. I anticipate as time goes by we will start getting some more calls as people assess the damage on their properties,” Bowman said.

Dave Walsh, a member of a Johnsburg public works crew clearing a large tree that came down across Reed Avenue, said he and other village workers had been awake most of the night and pre-dawn hours Wednesday removing debris from roadways.

In addition to the rain, McHenry County is also under another heat advisory Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The heat advisory is set to run noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday with heat index values of up to 105 expected across north central and northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Hot temperatures and high humidity can cause heat illnesses in fewer than 30 minutes when in direct sunlight, the advisory warned, recommending that people drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances, according to the advisory. Those who work or spend time outside should take extra precautions.

Cooling centers available in McHenry County include:

LocationAddressAvailability
Ganek Municipal Center2200 Harnish Drive, AlgonquinWorking hours only
Harvard Senior Center6817 Harvard Hills Road, HarvardWorking hours only
Huntley Park District Building12015 Mill St., HuntleyWorking hours only
Huntley Municipal Complex10987 Main St., Huntley24 hours
Lakemoor Police Department28581 W. Route 120, LakemoorWorking hours only
Lakewood Village Hall2500 Lake Ave., LakewoodWorking hours only
McHenry County Housing Authority Old Firehouse Assistance Center120 W. South St., WoodstockFor homeless only
McHenry City Hall333 S Green St., McHenryWorking hours only
McHenry County Administration Building Lobby667 Ware Road, WoodstockWorking hours only
McHenry County Government Center Lobby2200 N Seminary Road, WoodstockWorking hours only
McHenry Township Offices3703 N. Richmond Road, JohnsburgWorking hours only
Mercy Health Hospital Harvard901 Grant St., Harvard24 hours
Prairie Grove Village Hall3125 Barreville Road, Prairie Grove24 hours
Port Barrington Community Room75 S. Circle Drive, Port BarringtonWorking hours only
RedTail Golf Club7900 RedTail Drive, LakewoodWorking hours only
Source: McHenry County government