The wave of summer storms that blew across the Chicago area Thursday afternoon turned violent in isolated areas, snapping power lines, tearing at roofs and sparking lightning that killed a Joliet man.
On Lake Michigan, boaters reported seeing water spouts, which are water-filled funnel clouds, off the Chicago shoreline.
“One of the guys on the (police) boats was watching them right off downtown here,” said Officer Elliott Pillar of the Chicago Police Marine Unit.
The storms also delayed air travel, knocked down tree limbs and further washed away memories of the Drought of ’94.
The worst reported damage was in an Aurora industrial park, where, according to National Weather Service meteorologists, wind gusts probably exceded 75 an hour.
The meteorologists determined that the winds covered a 100-yard swath and were caused by a downburst-a rush of straight-line wind that can accompany thunderstorms.
Jim Torres was in his body shop at the industrial park when the storm hit.
He watched as the roof of his building rose, then fell back down.
“(It) wasn’t even raining. Then the wind came up so fast you couldn’t get to the back door,” said Torres, co-owner of Tony & Sons Body Shop.
“There’s no way of finding safety; it hit so fast.”
Across the street, Robert Bordak and Fred Wheeler, co-owners of Transport Refrigeration Service, were also taken by surprise.
“It sounded like a massive explosion,” Bordak said. “It was a mess. All the doors caved in.”
Four businesses in three buildings at the industrial park suffered damage when the storm whipped in at 2:20 p.m., said Fire Capt. Gary Strong.
Part of the body shop roof was blown off, dropping bricks onto about two dozen cars inside the building, all of which would now need additional body work.
Also damaged was a metal structure housing-appropriately enough-Windy City Amusements.
Strong estimated overall damage at more than $500,000.
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In Joliet, lightning struck and killed an attorney as he walked off a YMCA running track on the way to his car during an afternoon downpour, authorities said.
William Beans, 36, of 917 Westwood Ave., had just left the half-mile asphalt track behind the Greater Joliet Area YMCA, 749 Houbolt Rd., about 1:30 p.m. when lightning knocked him to the ground next to his car, according to YMCA development director Joe Roberts.
Some patrons saw Beans fall face first to the ground, Roberts said, and rushed to him to begin CPR.
Beans was already in critical condition when paramedics arrived, according to Tim Carlin, coordinator of the Joliet Fire Department’s emergency services team.
Beans was pronounced dead 35 minutes later at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Joliet.
“He was a great attorney and a good man,” said Randy Miller, a partner in the Joliet firm of Dunn, Martin and Miller, where Beans had worked from 1992 and 1993.
Most lightning deaths occur in open fields or near trees. An average of two people are killed and eight injured by lightning each year in Illinois, according to the National Weather Service. An average of 93 people are killed annually in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At midafternoon Thursday, air traffic controllers ordered planes bound for O’Hare International Airport to be held on the ground in other cities, causing delays there of 1 to 2 hours and disrupting flight schedules across the U.S.
“The weather to the north of us, to the south of us, to the east of us and to the west of us was severe,” said Lisa Howard, a spokeswoman for the city’s department of transportation. The weather at the airport itself was “not bad,” she said.
In Aurora, a portion of a farm building collapsed on power lines, knocking out electricity to 3,500 homes.
The storms also knocked down feeder lines near Joliet, affecting up to 8,400 homes, and caused temporary blackouts in several other suburbs, from Carol Stream to La Grange Park.