About 17,000 remain without power after storms
BY ALLISON HORTON Staff Reporter August 5, 2012 10:54AM
Updated: August 6, 2012 9:56AM
Since Saturday’s storms knocked out power to homes and businesses throughout the area more than 223,000 ComEd customers have had power restored, but those in areas hardest hit by the storm may have to wait until Tuesday before their lights come back on.
As of 7 p.m. Sunday, approximately 17,000 customers remained without power after strong thunderstorms passed through the Chicago area Saturday evening, utility spokeswoman Martha Swaney said.
Of those without power, 11,000 were in ComEd’s south region; 5,000 were in the Chicago region, which includes the city and near-west suburbs; 2,000 were in the utility’s west region, which includes areas west of Route 59; and about 15 were in the north region, which includes Evanston and other northern suburbs, Swaney said.
More than 330 crews have been working to restore power to customers, most of whom will have electricity again by Monday night, ComEd spokesman Tony Hernandez said. But outages in the hardest-hit areas such as Oak Lawn, Lansing and Evergreen Park could linger into Tuesday because of the extent of the damage, he said.
