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player ready...Severe storms Monday left thousands across Lake County without power, toppling trees, flooding roads and damaging buildings, with outages potentially continuing through the rest of the week.
According to a Lake County representative, 30,000 Lake County customers were without power as of Tuesday afternoon.
In an online statement, ComEd acknowledged that customers were “frustrated” with the outages, but blamed “a level of severe weather unlike what we’ve seen in recent years.”
“In fact, our service area has already experienced more storms this year than in all of 2025,” the statement said. “Storms are becoming more frequent, more powerful and more destructive.”
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ComEd said more than 530,000 of its customers were impacted, with some of the hardest hit communities including Lake County’s Waukegan and Libertyville.
“When storms cause this level of damage across dozens of communities at the same time, restoration becomes significantly more complex,” ComEd said. “Crews must first assess damage, clear hazards and rebuild damaged infrastructure before power can be safely restored. In some locations, roads must be cleared of downed trees before crews can even access damaged equipment.”
ComEd said it expects 80% of interruptions to be restored by noon Wednesday, with the “vast majority of impacted customers” to be restored by 10 p.m. Friday.
Power outages Monday had left many eastern Lake County traffic signals in flash mode, the Lake County representative said, and roadways had flooded — although the water has largely receded.
Lake County Department of Transportation crews and the signal contractor were out Tuesday continuing to work to clear debris and restore traffic signals, some of which remained flashing or completely dark, a county representative said.
Waukegan was hit hard Monday, and crews were working Tuesday to clear debris and deal with downed trees and power lines, according to a city post on social media.
Libertyville’s community development and administrative engineering and public works offices were closed due to power outages at the building, the village said on social media.
Libertyville and Waukegan communications both warned against approaching downed power lines that may still be energized, and to report them to ComEd immediately. According to the post, 300,000 ComEd customers were impacted by the storm.
In a social media post, Waukegan Ald. Victor Felix said the storm had taken off the roof of an apartment building, impacting 17-18 units and “leaving many families uncertain about what would happen next.”
Felix praised the community for coming together in the aftermath, including connecting residents with resources and finding places to stay for the night.
“Days like today remind us that while storms can damage buildings, they cannot break the spirit of a community that stands together,” he said. “Waukegan is at its strongest when we support one another.”
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