The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes touched down Tuesday as storms hit southern Cook County and eastern Will County, and now south and southwest suburban communities brace for more potential rainfall.
Meteorologist Scott Baker said the weather service was surveying damage Tuesday for more information, including confirmation of more tornadoes. He said 80 to 95 mph winds were seen in southern Cook County, with gusts of about 70 mph in Oak Lawn and 91 mph in Mokena.
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Glenwood Academy staff members were taking part in training, having only recently returned to the nearly 140-year-old residential school, when they received tornado warning alerts and took cover Tuesday.
“And then when we came out, it was just devastating,” Glenwood Academy President and CEO Colleen Carter said Wednesday.
Carter said the 120-acres campus lost 33 trees from the tornadoes two weeks ago. This week, she reported branches “sticking out of the roof,” causing about seven holes, along with a hole in the administration building’s roof and gutters ripped off of cottages where staff members live during the school year.
Also blown away was the face of a clock tower that has been part of the nonprofit school’s landscape since it was founded in 1887, Carter said. Fallen trees crushed cars and broke through windows.
Despite it all, Carter is hoping for a swift clean up effort, so she can welcome back about 150 students as scheduled on Sunday night. She said Glenwood Academy is a “safe haven” for students, many of which are also from the south suburbs and have experienced housing and food insecurity.
“It’s really important to get them back on campus, where we know they’re safe, and obviously, we want school to start too,” Carter said.
She thanked staff and other community members for volunteering to remove debris and clean up the campus Wednesday morning, requesting for food and bottled water donations to support their efforts. The school is also accepting financial help at www.glenwoodacademy.org/donate.
Both Glenwood Academy and Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights remained without power Wednesday afternoon.
Marian Catholic President Michael Riordan said the school’s west gym flooded, after a rubbery material sealing the roof from rainfall came loose.
“It was literally raining in the gym,” he said. “There’s no gaping hole — it’s not like we could see the daylight from inside the gym — but with that seal gone, the water just made its way right in.”
Riordan said salvaging the wooden gym floor is “touch and go,” with a contractor working yesterday to dehumidify the inside and cover the roof with a tarp. The west gym is an important space at the private Catholic school, being used for athletic events, school assemblies and masses as well as physical education classes.
“So we’re already having conversations about how we can reschedule or relocate all those different functions that are in there,” Riordan said. “But it could be weeks, it could be months. We just don’t know right now.”
He said the rest of the school will also be assessed for damage, as small amounts of water were seen dripping into other parts of the building. Teachers were scheduled to return to school this week, with classes starting for students on Monday.
Marian Catholic announced Wednesday it would remain closed on Thursday.
Thornton Fractional South High School also was without power and canceled freshman orientation for Thursday, but planned to still have classes for all students Friday. A planned Senior Sunrise gathering for Thursday was rescheduled to 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 21.
Homewood Elementary District 153 also said its schools would be closed Thursday.
New Lenox resident Brad Squires was out Wednesday removing limbs from a massive pine tree in his son’s front yard that he said had come down Tuesday. He estimated the tree at about 100 years old.
“You can see it twisted before it broke,” Squires said. “It was twisting, twisting and it just came down.”
The tree fell right across Ogden Road, blocking it, Squires said.
By Wednesday afternoon, the road was clear, but a large section of the trunk was still occupying his son’s front yard. This had been the most damaging of the summer’s storms for his family, he said.
“Two weeks ago, probably people had it worse than this one, but this one got us worse,” Squires said.
Metra reported 105 train delays Tuesday, with service halted in the south suburbs on the electric mainline, the electric Blue Island branch and the southwest service due to high winds and tornado warnings.
The canopy at the Richton Park station and a structure on the Matteson station platform were damaged by winds, a Metra spokesperson said Wednesday. Outages affecting stations from Harvey to University Park led to more delays until power was restored to most stations Wednesday morning, the spokesperson said.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is still expected to perform on Saturday at Tinley Park’s Credit 1 Union Amphitheatre despite the venue’s roof being damaged Tuesday. A spokesperson for Live Nation said Wednesday workers are actively working to repairs the roof, and said the those who purchased tickets will be notified of updates through email and can opt for text alerts by texting SWEETHOME to 708-554-7716.
Magnolia Massage and Facial Spa on Wolf Road in Mokena was damaged by a falling tree.
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“After that crazy storm, Magnolia will probably be out of commission for about a week,” the business posted on social media. “I’m really hoping it’s only a week!”
Meteorologist Baker expressed sympathy for the hardest hit communities, some of which were similarly pummeled by tornadoes or high winds July 27.
“You’re cleaning up, you’re having to pick up your life from what it was,” Baker said. “It’s just another, ‘oh well, here we go again.'”
The meteorologist said the Chicago region could see an estimated 2 to 4 inches of rain from Thursday afternoon through early Friday.
“We’re kind of in an unsettled weather pattern right now,” Baker said. “As of right now, we’re not looking at anything like we had yesterday … But we can’t rule out showers and storms, and then the potential for some of those to be on the strong, maybe to severe side.”
[email protected]. The Daily Southtown’s Evy Lewis contributed to this article.