Wind chills newest threat after power knocked out

Residents shovel around a foot of snow on State Ave. on Wednesday in Freeport. (AP photo)

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CHICAGO – Below zero wind chills are now expected in Illinois as a storm that brought high winds and snow accumulations of up to 10 inches moves out of the state.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ameren Illinois reported 1,300 customers without power, many in Jackson County. Commonwealth Edison reported 5,000 powerless customers, the majority west of Chicago to the Mississippi River.

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport more than 300 flights were canceled and 30-minute delays were reported by afternoon.

At Midway International Airport there were more than 25 cancellations with delays of about a half an hour after spiking to an hour or more earlier in the day.

The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures below zero in northern Illinois with wind chills of 20 below in some areas Wednesday night into today.

Since Tuesday night, ComEd spokesman Paul Callighan said about 150 DeKalb County residents experienced some kind of power outage.

Of those, only six remained without power as of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Callighan also reminds customers to report power outages immediately by calling 800-334-7661.

• Daily Chronicle reporter John Puterbaugh contributed to this story.

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