High Winds Wreak Havoc on Suburbs

High winds on Friday snapped trees, downed power lines and even uprooted the canopy at a suburban gas station from its concrete holding, causing it to topple over. The high winds also caused a building to collapse in south suburban Calumet Park, scattering brick and debris into the street.

• High Winds Knock Down Building in Calumet Park

The National Weather Service recorded the following wind speeds across the suburbs: Palatine saw wind speeds as high as 64 mph, 62 mph at O’Hare, 61 mph at Midway, 58 mph at the DuPage Airport, 58 mph in Romeoville and 56 mph in Cary. A full list of wind speeds can be found on the National Weather Service website.

In Elk Grove Village, no one was injured when a canopy covering two gas pumps collapsed at a Marathon gas station at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the Daily Herald.

Also in Elk Grove Village, between 50 and 60 employees were evacuated from an office building at 2300 E. Higgins Road after the wind blew off roofing metal and insulation while Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights was forced to move some patients after windows were damaged, the Daily Herald reports.

In Glenview, railway gates were snapped off by winds and in other parts of the suburbs, mature trees were downed as were power lines and debris was left across the towns, according to WGN TV. In Algonquin, unsecured drywall sheets on the roof of the Target on Randall Road were blown across the parking lot while in Glen Ellyn, a large portion of the Seaton Computing Center at the College of DuPage roof was blown off, according to the Daily Herald.

Widespread power outages were also reported but few outages were still affecting communities as of Sunday morning, according to the ComEd power outage map.

Delays were also reported Friday on Metra’s Milwaukee North, West and North Central Service lines. Check MetraRail.com for the latest information. High winds caused cancellations and delays at Chicago airports. Inbound planes were delayed for an hour on average as arriving flights were held back. Departures were delayed by 30 minutes, and about 100 cancellations have taken place as of 4 p.m.

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More via the Daily Herald.