Violent storms destroy homes in Illinois
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Powerful winds sent trees crashing into houses and power lines in northern Illinois early Saturday.
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Heavy storms ripped through northern Illinois early Saturday, destroying homes and leaving about 120,000 people without power. CNN's Sean Callebs has more (July 5)
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(CNN) -- Heavy storms ripped through northern Illinois early Saturday, destroying homes and leaving about 120,000 people without power, authorities and residents told CNN.
No weather-related deaths or injuries were reported, said Sgt. Laura Kubiak of the Chicago Police Department.
Winds as high as 85 mph sent trees crashing into houses and power lines, authorities said.
Some of the worst damage was in the Marshfield neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Kubiak said.
Resident Gloria Torato said that at about 5:30 a.m. "everything came crashing through the window. I couldn't get out the front door or back door. Someone had to come and get me. There was stuff all over the place.
"The window came in, I had glass on my head. I got a couple scrapes -- but I'm OK, thank God."
Added resident Jolene Zepeda, "Trees started flying everywhere ... on top of houses and on the cars and everything."
Fire crews and ambulances were on the scene.
"We have seen significant damage," said Tim Lindberg, spokesman for the area's main power company Commonwealth Edison.
"We did staff up in advance of the storm," said Lindberg, and crews were working to restore power to the 120,000 customers who lost it, he said.
The METRA train service, which operates a 500-mile system in northern Illinois, was shut down in many locations, Kubiak said.
The latest report from the National Weather Service as of 9:40 a.m. Saturday issued a hazardous weather outlook for much of northern Illinois.
