Flooding, power outages bombard DeKalb County after second round of storms

Hundreds of DeKalb County residents remained without power as of Tuesday afternoon following a second night of severe thunderstorms that brought tornado warnings, heavy rain and winds. Significant flooding also has been reported.

Some residents have been without power since Sunday night, after the first round of storms. The National Weather Service confirmed an Ef-1 tornado hit Esmond in the western part of the county Sunday. The NWS has not reported any local tornadoes from Monday’s storm as of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.

This story was updated at 8:54 p.m. Monday, July 15, 2024. Another update at 9:36 p.m. reported power outages in DeKalb County. This story was updated at 9:24 a.m. July 16, 2024. Updated at 10:58 a.m. July 16, 2024. This story was updated at 4: p.m. July 16, 2024. Additional updates could occur.

“It appears that mostly what we dealt with last night throughout the storm was in the Route 72 corridor of the county, so the northern portion of the county – Kirkland, Kingston and Genoa. We did respond to multiple calls for wires down and trees and limbs on the roadway,” DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said Tuesday.

Chamberlain Park in Genoa was closed Tuesday due to fallen trees, according to the Genoa Township Park District.

Despite the strong winds, Sullivan said there was no reports of life-imperiling damage from the storm. Tuesday morning, every on-duty Genoa police officer was out of the office, helping the community deal with the storm’s aftermath. By then, Sullivan said, his office had handed over the scenes of downed trees or utility wires to other service providers.

“We don’t have any roadways that are closed right now. So it’s just a matter of basic storm clean up,” Sullivan said.

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Blake Richter, 10, helps pull parts of a large branch off of a fence in his back yard on Central Avenue in Genoa Tuesday, July 16, 2024, after it fell during the sever thunderstorm Monday night. The storm caused localized damage and flooding throughout DeKalb County. (Mark Busch)

Outages

ComEd reports as of 4:53 p.m. that 1,115 DeKalb County residents are impacted by 96 outages, improved from the morning when at one point nearly 2,500 had no power, according to ComEd’s outage map.

In DeKalb city, 166 residents had no power as of 4:53 p.m. ComEd also reported no power for: 78 residents in Sycamore Township; 50 in Genoa; 78 in Cortland; 115 in Kirkland; 300 in Kingston.

At one point Tuesday morning, almost half of the village of Kirkland’s population had no power.

Cortland Mayor Mark Pietrowski addressed frustrations among some for continued power outages in a Tuesday social media post. The township suffered heavy damage from the storms.

“While many homes do have power now in Cortland we are aware there are some still without,” Pietrowski wrote at 12:37 p.m. “The ComEd representative for our area said crews are in our town today to fix remaining issues estimated times between 4 and 7 tonight and for some areas still mentioned tomorrow morning but they are seeing if that can be expedited. He agreed that three days is not acceptable and they are working to fix remaining issues as quickly as possible.”

[ Earthquake reported in Somonauk, felt across region ]

Extra pickups planned for brush debris

Public works crews across multiple communities in town were out again Tuesday assessing damage and responding to more downed tree debris and live wires.

“Fallen debris that effect roadways, method of travel, and emergency services have been prioritized,” the city of Genoa wrote in a public post about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Genoa residents were asked to report a downed tree by calling 815-784-2327 or using an online form found at www.genoa-il.com/contact. Genoa also has planned a special brush pickup the week of July 22 for continued cleanup efforts. All branches must be dragged to the curb by 8 a.m. on each scheduled pickup day. Genoa Public Works will not pick up debris on private property. Genoa has designated zones for pickup posted on its Facebook page.

Cooler temps, drier conditions on the way

Flooding brought by the onslaught of rain since Sunday night also dampened many areas in the county. In DeKalb, River Heights and Buena Vista golf courses were closed Monday due to flooding, according to the DeKalb Park District. The courses are open Tuesday for walking only.

High waters could be seen flowing down the Kishwaukee River near Illinois Route 64 west of Sycamore Tuesday morning.

Cooler temperatures and drier conditions are expected the remainder of the week, however, according to the National Weather Service. Tuesday’s high reached about 83, while Wednesday through Saturday will bring even cooler temperatures in the mid to upper-70s.

[ Storms flipped trailers in Cortland, put DeKalb County Jail on generator ]

Tornado conditions under survey

The week’s remaining forecast makes for a reprieve after damaging storms and tornado warnings ripped through the county Sunday night, leaving downed limbs, overturned trailers in Cortland and other reported damage. An earthquake also struck southern DeKalb County north of Somonauk in the early morning hours Monday.

Six damage survey teams went out on Tuesday to analyze 29 different paths of destruction in northern Illinois, including eight that were in or near DeKalb County, the National Weather Service’s Chicago office reported in social media post.

As of 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, NWS preliminary information gathered by the survey teams suggested there were at least five separate tornados in Northern Illinois and Indiana Monday night, including an EF-1 tornado in the Bristol and Oswego area..

The NWS confirmed at about 9 p.m. Sunday night, an EF-0 tornado, with a peak wind speed of 75 miles per hour, tore a 3.4 miles long damage path near Esmond. Two other EF-0 tornadoes touched down near St. Charles and another in Elburn in neighboring Kane County.

This story was updated at 8:54 p.m. Monday, July 15, 2024. Another update at 9:36 p.m. reported power outages in DeKalb County. This story was updated at 9:24 a.m. July 16, 2024. Updated at 10:58 a.m. July 16, 2024. This story was updated at 4:55 p.m. July 16, 2024. Additional updates could occur.