By Andrea Arens
The U.S. National Weather Service Chicago indicated that as many as 25 tornadoes touched down in the Chicagoland area between July 14 and 15 due to the derecho.
The National Weather Service defines a derecho as a “widespread, long-lived windstorm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.”
Most of the tornadoes didn’t exceed an EF-2 on the tornado measurement system, with zero being the weakest and four being the strongest. A tornado in Channahon registered an EF-2.
Additional tornadoes were indicated in Manhattan, Peotone, and Manteno.
Manhattan’s Ranch Oaks subdivision saw quite a bit of destruction with multiple homes sustaining damage, while the Peotone and Manteno tornadoes were in the country.
In town around Peotone quite a few trees lost limbs or came down entirely. The emergency sirens were activated, and fortunately there were no reports of anyone physically harmed.
With such destruction, though, came a loss of power and many residents were without power for more than 12 hours. Some didn’t have power restored till Thursday afternoon, which was still before the initial ComEd estimate of July 19.
Will County Emergency Management Association issued a statement urging ComEd customers, who are reliant on electricity for medical issues, to be added to a priority list to restore their electricity and/or ComEd will provide those customers with a generator to ensure their lives are not in jeopardy.
Residents who experienced damage also are encouraged to report that damage to the county EMA.
