17K Still Without Power In McHenry County: UPDATES

MCHENRY AND LAKE COUNTIES, IL — Thousands remain without power Thursday following an ice storm that downed trees and power lines across McHenry County.

The power outages forced several schools and businesses to close Thursday and many remained without power late Thursday afternoon. District 47 school officials reported power was restored for about an hour Thursday afternoon but one of the schools, Woods Creek Elementary, has since lost power again.

As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, more than 25,000 homes or business serving 19 percent of Comed users in McHenry County were without power. Six hours later, power had been restored for 8,000 of those businesses and homes, leaving 17,000 still in the dark as of 4:30 p.m., according to the Comed power outage map.

Comed officials said early Thursday that power should be restored for 80 percent of Comed customers by 11 p.m. Thursday and all power from the outages should be restored by late Saturday.
Among the communities hardest hit by power outages as of 4:30 p.m. are: Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Nunda Township, Cary, Algonquin Township and McHenry.

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Stop Lights Out In Crystal Lake

Drivers should avoid Northwest Highway and Route 176 Thursday evening as police are reporting significant delays due to inoperable traffic signals. Stop signs have been set up in place of the stop lights.

Com Ed Provides Warming Bus

Comed will have a warming bus available during the overnight hours. The bus will be located at Willow Creek Church, 100 South Main Street, Crystal Lake.

Sheriff's Office Reports Road Closures

Downed trees and power lines across McHenry County forced officials to close several county roads Wednesday night and Thursday.

As of 10:30 a.m. the following roadways in the county were closed: Kishwaukee Valley Road east of South Rose Farm Road and west of Alpine Lane, Route 47 and Vanderkarr Road, Oak Street north of Route 176 and south of Reserve Drive and South Ridgefield Road between Route 14 and McHenry County College, according to the McHenry County Sheriff's Office.

Many more local roadways could be closed as public works and ComEd crews work to clean up. Drivers are urged to use caution while driving.

Tree On Metra Tracks Causes Delays

The storm also led to Metra train delays Wednesday evening, including an outbound train that had to turn around at Pingree Road in Crystal Lake due to a tree on the tracks.

District 47 School Loses Power Again

Power at four Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 schools, North, Lundahl, Woods Creek and South, all lost power or only had partial power Wednesday night. The district's bus garage was also in the dark Wednesday night and most of Thursday, said Superintendent Kathy J. Hinz in a letter to parents Thursday.

As of late Thursday afternoon, power had been restored to all buildings. Since then, Woods Creek Elementary School has since lost power again, Hinz said.

District 47 is hoping to have all staff and students in school Friday. An update will be provided at 5 a.m. Friday regarding the power outages and if school will again be cancelled.

District 26 Schools Still Without Power

District 26 in Cary closed its schools Thursday due to the extensive power outages. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, two schools, Deer Path Elementary and Oak Knoll Early Childhood Center, are still partially or fully without power.

"Our hope is that all of our schools are up and running tomorrow. However, this may not be possible given the intermittent power outages that have been occurring," District 26 superintendent Brian Coleman wrote in a letter to parents. "We will continue to monitor the situation throughout the night and provide an update to parents and staff by 6 a.m. tomorrow morning regarding any school closings."

Salvation Army Offers Overnight Accommodations

The American Red Cross is available to help individuals in need with overnight warming accommodations, according to city officials in Crystal Lake. Those interested in learning about their options can call the American Red Cross at 877-597-0747 to discuss accommodations.

How to Report a Power Outage, Downed Wires

All power outages should be reported to Comed by texting “ADD OUTAGE” to 266-33 or by visiting here. If you come upon a downed wire, contact Comed at 1-800-334-7661.

Don't Move Barricades In Streets: Crystal Lake Officials

Officials in Crystal Lake are asking residents to not move any barricades set up in streets or attempt to go around them. The barricades have been set up, often times, to prevent people or vehicles form going over a possibly live wire.

Earlier on Thursday, city officials in Crystal Lake told residents to only call 911 if they were dealing with a life-threatening emergency since the city's fire-rescue department was being inundated with calls regarding the storm.

Cary Police Respond To Calls During Power Outage

In Cary, police handled 40 calls for service related to the weather since the start of the storm, said Scott Naydenoff, deputy chief of support services for the Cary Police Department. The majority of calls were related to power loss, including downed wires, sparking transformers, alarm activations and citizen assists.

As of 10:30 a.m., more than 1,600 ComEd users in Cary, or 22 percent of residents, remained without power. Most of those outages appeared to be in neighborhoods north of Route 14 and east of Cary-Algonquin Road.

"The incidents were spread throughout the village, but the majority appear to have been on the north side of town, north of US Route 14," Naydenoff said Thursday morning. "We are still receiving calls related to the weather, but not at the same frequency."

Cary police responded to five traffic crashes during the ice storm. No one was injured in any of the crashes or weather-related incidents, Naydenoff said.

Businesses Shut Doors Amid Power Outages

Several business across the area closed Wednesday night due to power outages and remained closed Thursday.

In Lake Zurich, businesses located along South Rand Road, including Aldi and Binny's, were closed Wednesday due to the power outage.

As of 11 a.m., many businesses in the same strip mall as Jewel-Osco in Cary were without power and closed. Employees at the Starbucks, 620 Northwest Highway in Cary, said the coffee shop remained close as of 11 a.m. but power was supposed to be restored soon.

The Jewel-Osco remained closed as of 11 a.m. but the McDonald's, at 678 Northwest Highway, was open and very busy. Residents are advised to call a business before stopping out to make sure they are open.

Lake in the Hills Road Closures, Updates

Public works crews in Lake in the Hills are out in full force and power is slowly being restored around the central portion of the village and east side, according to an update at 2:20 p.m. Thursday.

A temporary warming center has been set up at the Irv Floress Safety Education Center, 1109 Crystal Lake Road. Anyone needing to utilize the temporary center will first need to visit the police department lower lobby at 1115 Crystal Lake Road to request assistance.

Anyone with questions or needing information or aid can call the police department at 847-658-5676 and request to speak to the supervisor.

Village officials reported downed lines at Linden near Spruce and in the 1200 block of Maple. The roadway is not closed but drivers should avoid those areas and give crews space to get trucks out to fix the issue, according to information posted on the Lake in the Hills Facebook page.

School Closures Thursday

Several schools were without power Thursday, including Golfview Elementary School in Carpentersville and Westfield Community School in Algonquin. Those District 300 schools were closed Thursday, D300 superintendent Susan Harkin said in a note to parents Thursday morning.

All other D300 schools opened late. In her letter to parents, Harkin urged them to talk to their high school drivers about using extra caution and allowing extra time to get to school Thursday morning and to opt to use the district's bus transportation service if they felt uncomfortable driving.

Harkin also urged parents to let students know that it is "most important to drive safely and possibly be tardy if driving conditions are not ideal."

"District 300’s attendance policy states an excused absence can be a 'circumstance which causes reasonable concern to the parent for the safety or health of a student,'" Harkin said. "Hazardous road conditions would meet these criteria.:

In Crystal Lake, 41 percent of ComEd users and 58 percent of Lakewood ComEd users were without power early Thursday, including two District 155 schools and the district's transportation department.

Due to the outages, an E-learning day was "impossible," district officials said in a Facebook post.

"This will be an emergency closing and we will make up the day at the end of the school year," according to D155 post.

Other schools that were closed Thursday include Fox River Grove District 3 schools, Cary District 26 schools, First Church Preschool in Crystal Lake and Allendale School in Woodstock.