Hundreds of Hinsdale families woke up Wednesday, Aug. 12, without electricity and under a new severe thunderstorm watch that carries tornado risk, the third time in 16 days the village has faced a weather emergency.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for DuPage County through 1 p.m. Wednesday, warning that damaging winds, hail and a "brief tornado or two" are possible. The greatest threat sits along the I-88 corridor south and eastward, with storms expected to push into the Chicago area around 10 a.m.
The watch lands barely 24 hours after a derecho ripped through the region Tuesday, producing at least three confirmed tornadoes in Cook and Will counties and knocking out power to more than 140,000 ComEd customers regionwide.
What Hinsdale residents need to know now
Village President Greg Hart said on X Tuesday evening that approximately 1,700 Hinsdale customers lost power at the storm's peak. That number had dropped to 753 as of his latest post. Hart wrote that the village remains in close contact with ComEd and will continue pushing for restoration as quickly as possible.
The Village of Hinsdale issued safety reminders for anyone who encounters a downed power line:
- Do not touch it or anything in contact with it.
- Stay at least 35 feet away.
- Never drive over a downed line.
- Call 911 immediately.
Village crews are actively responding to storm damage. Residents can report downed trees, localized flooding or other non-emergency issues at 630-789-7000. To report a power outage, call ComEd at 1-800-334-7661 or visit ComEd.com/outage.
A punishing pattern
This is the third severe weather emergency to hit Hinsdale since Monday, July 27, when a storm knocked out power to roughly 1,200 customers and left some homes dark for nearly a week. The Village's Public Services Department fielded about 60 storm-related calls that day alone and deployed two woodchippers simultaneously to clear downed trees on the north and south sides of the village.
After that storm, Hart sent a formal letter to ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones and committed to requesting an after-action review. He also reached out to Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and state Sens. Suzy Glowiak Hilton and John Curran. As we reported Tuesday, the derecho struck before that review was scheduled.
The NWS described the current weather pattern as "active" and said it will continue into the weekend, with more rounds of storms possible.
No restoration timeline has been announced. No after-action review date with ComEd has been set.
Check villageofhinsdale.org and hinsdalelibrary.info for this week's community events and schedule updates.
