Downed Wires, Trees Block Train Tracks, Roads In Plainfield After Storm: Police

PLAINFIELD, IL — Trees and electrical wires have fallen across Plainfield after a severe storm blew through the area Tuesday morning, police said.

As of 11:45 a.m., a train was blocking 143rd Street/Naperville-Plainfield Road as well as Main, Bartlett and Center streets due to a tree that fell on the tracks, according to police.

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Route 126 at Ash Street was also closed due to downed wires.

ComEd reported more than 7,300 of its customers in Plainfield were experiencing outages Tuesday afternoon.

Police were asking drivers to avoid the area and use alternate routes until the road can be safely reopened.

"Motorists are reminded to use extreme caution in storm affected areas," police wrote in an alert on Facebook. "Never approach, drive over, or touch downed power lines or wires. What may appear to be an inactive wire could still be energized."

A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for the Chicago area as a fast-moving cluster of severe storms moved across the area Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters anticipated the storm would bring damaging wind gusts as high as 80 mph, as well as torrential downpours and possibly tornadoes.

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