Firefighters have responded to hundreds of weather-related emergency calls and over 30,000 ComEd customers remain without power following a wintry mix storm in Lake and McHenry counties.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an ice storm warning that was in effect Wednesday morning and expired Thursday morning.
The warning covered McHenry, Boone and Winnebago counties.
The NWS also issued a winter weather advisory that went into effect Wednesday morning and expired Thursday morning covering Lake, Ogle, DeKalb and Kane counties.
Lake and McHenry counties saw heavy rain. High winds were also reported.
Ice accumulations on wires, roadways, trees and sidewalks were reported throughout the area.
Fire departments in Lake and McHenry counties were busy responding to hundreds of weather-related calls Wednesday and Thursday.
The majority of the calls involved people reporting wires down, poles down, trees down, transformer fires and some vehicle crashes.
ComEd initially reported Wednesday evening that approximately 8,500 customers in Lake County and 13,000 customers in McHenry County were affected by over 450 separate power outages.
As of Thursday morning, ComEd reported approximately 5,069 customers in Lake County and almost 26,000 customers in McHenry County were affected by almost 900 separate power outages.
ComEd said their crews were dispatched to areas affected by the storm and their focus is on making repairs that will restore power to the greatest number of customers and to emergency facilities.
Crews are expected to restore 80% of the outages by Thursday evening and the majority of the remaining outages by Saturday evening.
The Village of Hawthorn Woods reported trees down blocking residential roadways Wednesday. Public works crews were called to clear the trees.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office warned residents to stay off the roadway on Wednesday due to the trees and power lines being down.
“These are very difficult to see when driving. Do not approach wires down, dial 911,” the sheriff’s office said.
Alex Vucha, a spokesperson for several fire departments in McHenry County, said there have been hundreds of weather-related calls that crews responded to in the past day.
Vucha urges residents who are experiencing a power outage to not run generators inside their homes.
Gas-powered generators create deadly carbon monoxide which can quickly fill a home, Vucha said.