Thousands without power after storms pummel Chicago area

Severe storms that slammed the Chicago area last night left downed trees and many without power Wednesday.

Over 15,000 customers were still without power following Tuesday's storm, according to a ComEd website.

Large tree limbs were downed in Evanston and "sporadic tree damage" was reported throughout parts of the north and west suburbs, Brett Borchardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said.

Several downed trees and large branches were still on the ground Wednesday morning in Evanston.

Marius Daugirdas, a business owner who has lived in Evanston for more than 40 years, told the Sun-Times on Wednesday it was "unlike any thunderstorm I've ever seen."

He looked on as the storm grew more and more intense, with wind coming from all directions.

"Our street went dark and I sort of peered out onto the balcony," Daugirdas said. "Unlike most thunderstorms where the wind was coming from one direction, this was swirling."

Daugirdas ducked down to the basement for shelter and worried about the possibility of a tornado forming.

By the time the squall passed, limbs were down in nearly every yard on his street, and traffic was diverted.

A tree towering 40 to 50 feet on Northwestern University's campus snapped, its thick trunk a fraction of the height it was just a day earlier.

"This just was way out there in terms of strength and suddenness," said Daugirdas, 63. "It just came out of nowhere."