No Sirens!

[Ecstasy]

Wheaton got hit by two tornadoes yesterday --- one right behind my home. The sirens at the high school across the street never went off. We suspect it hit so ast there was no time to set them off. Surrounding towns were also hit repeatedly. The place looks like a war zone. No houses were leveled but there is damage mostly due to downed trees and high winds. Our Christopher was nearly killed when a tree sideswiped his car just as he was changing lanes to avoid it!!! (Say a prayer of thanksgiving that he's still with us! His wedding is in November!) No power to 300,000 people possibly for days, power lines shredded. I'm on my daughter's computer as she's connected to the police grid and they restored emergency services first. Many cell towers out, stoplights mangled and torn out of the ground. Lots of flooding and closed streets, emergency vehicles everywhere. Shaun's and Laura's homes are expected to get flooded out today. Many buildings, including emergency services, had to evacuate due to flooding. Brian and Annie were out with people forming teams in the streets with chain saws trying to cut the trees apart so they can get into their homes! Throw a few prayers this way folks because we're being told that the "bad stuff" isn't even here yet! It's due all afternoon and evening. We're preparing for the next seige. I'm trying to hang around the computer to keep in touch with family and friends.

I think Gina is the only other one out in the suburbs relatively near me so someone see if you can reach her and see if she and Anthony are alright in case I can't get through for long!

[Ecstasy]

We're hearing this came in from Iowa (is HT alright?) and blew across Lake Michigan into Michigan (do we have anyone up there?)

[Poor4Life]

I was online yesterday afternoon, so had no idea of any approaching storms. (I have dial up). It wasn't until around 2:30 when I heard the sirens going off, that I turned on the TV to hear about the Tornado warning. They said South Elgin was in it's path, but we escaped with no damage in our area.

Kathy Lee, let's hope that everyone else situated in the 'burbs is OK!

Jeff

[Ecstasy]

ComEd is saying to call in 72 hrs and they'll have a better idea of when power is going to be restored.

[Laura]

We actually drove through the storm.We took I294 to I90 and it hit right after we got onto I90. Didn't see any tornados but it was very dark and rained really heavy. Luckily, Ipass was still working. We wanted to beat rushhour traffic.

[Ecstasy]

Boy am I glad Kiwi and Muzza came and went when they did! Without power more and more stores are closing. The ones that are still open are madhouses as people try to stock up on food. Traffic is a nightmare because there are no traffic lights, bumper to bumper everywhere.

Shaun said the weather forecasters don't know what to expect anymore. Every source has a different prediction. The storms cluster and break up over and over. Add to that the existing humidity and erratic temps and we have a very unpredictable, volatile mix.

[HT from Mo]

Hi Kathy! Wow! I can picture the devestation that is surrounding you. Is Christopher in the hospital? If so, what's his condition at this point?

As for the tornado, we only had a few short rainstorms and then it moved out. I did hear that Chicago was just pummeled by the wind - 80 mph!

We are all doing fine. We currently have temps in the mid eighties and breezy.

Let us know how you're doing.

HT

[Julie]

Kathy--you're in my prayers! Yep, I think it came from Iowa--not my part of the state though! Glad you're ok!

We've had 15.9 inches of rain at our place since Saturday! I kid you not! Luckily, we live on higher ground. We have had water in our basement and a lot of folks had much worse. It's just crazy! We're in the northwestern part of the state--just 35 miles from the Minnesota border.

Blessings to you!

Julie

[Reid C.]

Soggy Greetings, Kathy,

Glad to hear that you and yours are safe. I grew up in Delaware, Ohio and my biggest childhood fear was getting hit by a tornado. Well, that, and the invisable monster in the sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet, but that's a whole different thing. Funny, these days, I wish I could take the time off to be a storm chaser. Go figure. Anyway, keep your heads low, this will pass.

Prayers and good thoughts for our Midwestern webmates, people. Prayers and good thoughts...

[blackhawkpat]

We had no power last night for almost ten hours in Chicago, from about 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM this morning. They say that over 600k lost power in Chicago from the storm and all but 185k is restored. At the thought of losing hundreds of dollars in food and refrigerated medicine, I called the electric company at 5:30 AM and they said it would be another three days before it came up, then about thirty minutes later it came on. They just raised their rates (still not as insane as the gas company just did) big time, so people are ready to flip when something like this happens.

Glad to hear your loved ones are alright, Kathie Lee.

[AnniekNY]

Our prayers are with you guys - the weather has been off the hook lately; 34 degrees the other night, today 80 and humid as a wet blanket today.

be well my friends.

[darlene]

You're in my prayers, too. Hang in there and stay safe. I saw a tornado once in Tennessee and it was terrifying.

--Darlene

[MJ]

I am very sorry to hear about your town and others in the midwest - I hope everyone is safe!

[Ecstasy]

Jeff, I didn't know you were in South Elgin! I'm glad you're ok!

Laura, the highways were insane. It took John over 3 hrs to get to Wheaton from Skokie. It took Chris over 3 hrs as well.

HT, I keep thinking you're in Iowa (it'll sink in eventually.LOL) Chris is fine, thanks so much for asking. It was the strangest thing. He says he has no idea where the tree came from as there was a large parking lot on his right. He just saw this tree coming at him from out of nowhere and he swerved into the left lane just and it hit his right side. He said if he hadn't moved in time it would have definitely crushed his car! We had lost touch with him for a very long time before this happened. The last thing I said to him was to get off the main road and hole up somewhere for cover. He said they were bumper to bumper and if something hit everyone would be dead because they couldn't move. When he finally got through to us this tree disaster is what he tells us! Needless to say, I didn't handle the news too well and passed the phone off to John until I could compose myself.

Pat, the place is a free-for-all. I'm SOOO glad you got your power back! We're trying to wash clothes and take showers here at Laura's in shifts. We're a large family, 15 so far, so you can imagine what this is like! LOL

Julie, Reid, Annie, Darlene, MJ , thanks so much for the prayers and good wishes. It must be working, friends. All we've had is minor rain. It seems everything has suddenly dissipated. Crews have been working for hours trying to cut up all these downed trees and target all the downed power lines. Shaun, my oldest, came over to check on us this morning and we toured the neighborhood. There are trees on (and THROUGH!) houses and cars, fences and signs torn apart, flooding everywhere (the lagoon in the park now extends over to the tennis courts and the ducks and geese love it! LOL)... BUT no damage today as predicted so we'll go with that and count our blessings! I just keep saying it could have be worse. We know where every member of our family is and they're all safe! Still waiting to hear from Gina but glad each of you nearby are fine!

[hungryeyes]

Kathy Lee,

Thanks for thinking about us. No damage at all here. Well, the phone is dead. So sorry about your situation. Hope you power comes on soon. It was really scary , huh? Hope you guys are ok. Hang in there girlie

Love ya....G A

[Laura]

Take care, Kathy Lee. Glad your son is OK. We took our time to get home, but there are some real idiots out there. Thank God everyone was safe and nothing was damaged worse.

[Poor4Life]

If you watched the news last night depicitng the damage around the Chicagoland area, it was like a war zone. An 85 ft tree falling over across three yards, garage roofs lifted off, and the scariest report I saw was was about a little 3 year old girl trapped in an SUV, when a huge tree fell on top of it, after her Mother had just gotten out. Crushed the car like a pancake, she got out with only minor scratches! The river just down the street from me, is up over it's banks, and peoples yards are completely underwater. This weather is just unbelievable...

Jeff

[Ecstasy]

We still don't have power (almost 48 hrs) and they said not to even expect it till Monday or later. I heard from my sonin law, Brad, that they've been bringing in over 200 crews from other states to help restore power as quickly as possible. That's probably how Pat got his power back in the city. You wouldn't believe it --- we saw a downed power line still attached to the wood it had been mounted to. Screws sticking out, splintered wood strewn everywhere. The rest of it are city crews trying to cut up the trees and get them out of the way. Entire streets LINED all the way down with shredded trees (the tops of most of the trees are gone, some just snapped in half.)

Here's what I've heard. They're not calling them tornados officially since they didn't touch down all the way. They're funnel clouds that came down low enough to shred the neighborhood but not level it... more than a microburst but not a full tornado.

SOOO glad to have heard from each of you and that you're alright. We're in the middle of Tornado Alley and are fairly used to this so we're forging ahead with my grandson Kevin's 3rd birthday party this afternoon! A Pirates of the Caribbean party complete with treasure chest and everything (his baby brother, Tyler (4 mo), is wearing an "X Marks the Spot onsie that Laura hand-painted. She also made one for little cousin, Jess (8 mo) that says "I'm the Treasure!: LOL) Keeping our spirits up and doing our best!

[MAM]

My wife has relatives in the Round Lakes area. She's been trying to contact them for the past few days with no results. Anyone have any info as to if Round Lakes was part of the bad weather?

[Muzza]

Hi Kathy Lee. Sorry our visit kicked up such a storm. Pleased to hear you are all OK. Take care and our prayers are with you.

Muzza and Kiwi

[Ecstasy]

MAM, I'll see what I can find out for you! I'm only guessing but I don't think it went up to that part of the state. My sister is up in Gurnee and had some flooding but no where near the damage that's down here.

[dianed]

YIKES !!! I just saw this on the news today and could not believe the homes and cars still underwater !! Thank God everyone is alright.

Years ago, I rented a waterfront apartment and never even gave storms a second thought until a Nor'easter hit, the tide rose 22 feet ABOVE sea level and found its way into my home and I was totally wiped out except for the clothes on my back. Yes, it is devastating, but "things" are replacable. Hopefully Illinois and the rest of the cities affected will be declared a National Disaster Area and the good ol' government will step in and offer grants to those in need. That was the only way that I was able to put my life back together as I didn't have flood insurance at that time.

Hang in there everyone !!!

[MAM]

Thanks Kathy Lee, but we finally heard from my wife's relatives tonight. They left a message while we were out. They have a bunch of water in various spots, but everyone is fine. Whew!

Thank you again.

[Ecstasy]

MAM, glad to hear everyone is alright! Like I said, my sister is upstate as well and just mentioned the flooding so I figured they were pretty clear of the destructive stuff. I remember years back when an earthquake hit the San Fran area where many of my Dad's family live and we were waiting nervously to hear from them.

Well we finally got power back today after appx 92 hrs. Word has it that over 200 crews were called in from various states to help restore the power! Humidity has dropped to a tolerable level so Annie's and my asthma is under control again. Life is returning to normal. Cats are sleeping happily in the sun. It was very reassuring seeing all of our kids and grandkids together safe and sound and having a great time.

[Laura]

Thank God that everything is returning to normal. We just had a lot of rain here, few branches down, nothing major. My great aunt and uncle lived in Prarie du Chien next to the Mississippi, and they lived on a house on poles. They expected it to flood. We don't.