Chicago residents faced a volatile day of weather on Thursday as a line of thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois. The developing weather system has already prompted a Flood Watch covering dozens of counties and led to flight disruptions at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible across portions of northern Illinois. Authorities have issued a flood watch for large parts of the Chicago metropolitan area till Jun 11, 11:00 pm CDT.
Areas under the Flood Watch include Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Kankakee, Lake, Lee, La Salle, McHenry, Ogle, Winnebago, Cook, Grundy and Will counties, among others. The alert covers both the Rockford region and much of the greater Chicago metropolitan area.
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O’Hare flights halted amid thunderstorms
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O’Hare flights halted amid thunderstorms
{{/usCountry}}The deteriorating weather has also affected one of the nation's busiest airports.
Air traffic monitoring service ATC Alerts reported that the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA)issued a ground stop at Chicago O’Hare International Airport because of thunderstorms.
A ground stop means aircraft destined for the airport are held at their departure locations until conditions improve or traffic flow restrictions are lifted.
FAA status information showed weather-related traffic management measures in effect at O’Hare, with thunderstorms contributing to significant operational disruptions.
According to the FAA's latest update at 12:51 pm CDT, the average delay for flights due to the ground stop is 7 hours and 17 minutes.
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Thousands affected by outages, flooding and storm damage
According to the Storm Prediction Center, much of the area is at a Level 4 risk of severe storms. Northwest Indiana and sections of Kankakee County are at Level 3 risk.
According to ABC7, severe weather will begin at 4 p.m. and linger until 11 p.m., bringing strong gusts, huge hail, and the potential of tornadoes. There is a probability of more than an inch of rain, which is why the NWS issued a flash flood warning.
The second round of thunderstorms in Chicago came after strong thunderstorms blasted across the Chicago area on Wednesday, toppling trees and creating power disruptions.
On Wednesday, utility provider ComEd reported that more than 400,000 customers experienced outages at the peak of the event, with more than 158,000 customers still affected Thursday morning.
Emergency response agencies reported more than 4,100 tree emergencies, nearly 1,500 debris calls, and hundreds of traffic signal outages.
Among the hardest-hit communities was Stickney, where part of a condominium complex's roof was peeled away by strong winds, leaving roughly 30 residents displaced.
In Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood, uprooted trees crushed multiple parked vehicles, while in south suburban Dolton, a large tree collapsed onto a home, causing extensive roof damage. Additional damage was reported across the city and suburbs as crews raced to clear roads and secure structures ahead of the next round of storms.