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

CORTLAND – Overturned trailers in Cortland, power outages that briefly shut down air conditioning at the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore, a car in a flooded ditch in Genoa and downed power lines in DeKalb were all caused by severe weather Sunday night, authorities said.

It all happened within hours across the region, bringing severe storms, a tornado nearby and an earthquake all in one night.

Multiple trailers at Cortland Coach and Camper Storage were overturned by the severe thunderstorm that moved through DeKalb County about 9 p.m. Sunday. DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said no injuries have been reported as a result of the storm, however.

“We don’t have any reports of any damage or anything in the county other than at [Route] 38 and Somonauk [Road] there were some trailers that were blown over by some wind, at the corner there,” Sullivan said. “Other than that, we did have some reports of some wires down and some trees down, but those service workers are out tending to those needs.”

[ Earthquake reported in Somonauk, felt across region ]

Cortland Mayor Mark Pietrowski encouraged residents to reach out to his office if they needed anything in a social media post Monday, posted alongside a picture of a flag pole that appeared damaged by the storms.

“Lots of damage around town this morning,” Pietrowski wrote. “Individuals can pull any downed tree limbs out to near the road and public works will get them, however it will take a few days to get everything so please have patience as they work through things.”

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 17

A Worker from D. Ryan Tree and Landscape removes branches from a large tree that was blown down in Sunday night’s storms Monday, July 15, 2024, on West Page Street in Sycamore. High Winds and heavy storms hit DeKalb County overnight causing downed trees and power outages in the area. (Mark Busch)

Hundreds still without power

More than 960 DeKalb County residents remained without power from 72 outages as of 4 p.m. Monday, according to a ComEd power outage map. Sullivan said DeKalb County Jail and the sheriff’s office public safety building, 150 N. Main St., Sycamore, were among the afflicted properties waiting for crews to restore power.

“The sheriff’s office here has been working off an emergency generator, backup generator due to the storm at night, but we’re functioning as normal. There are other power outages, I think, in the neighborhood as well, too,” Sullivan said. “But we’re functioning normal, we’re just on a generator.”

Crews could be seen out on Page Street in Sycamore Monday morning clearing significant tree debris. Temperatures started the week off hot and muggy, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a heat advisory effective until 7 p.m. Monday. A flood watch went into effect at 6 p.m. and was scheduled to run through 3 a.m. Tuesday for the county.

“I think the AC was out for a little bit but it appears to be working now again,” Sullivan said at 1 p.m. Monday. “The facilities management crew has been working around the area trying to get things back up and running, but it’s mainly just working off the generator, so it’s just waiting on ComEd to get things fixed.”

”Primarily the south corridor was the worst for us. Roughly Grove Street and south out towards Fairview [Drive], and give or take Evans [Avenue] to First Street. That was kind of our swath if you will. We’ve got a couple limbs, a couple trees blocking roads but few and far between. So today our primary focus is reopening all roadways.”

—  Andy Raih, director of fleets and streets with DeKalb Public Works Department

Sycamore Public Library, 103 E. State St., was also without power Monday and remained closed for the day, according to a social media post.

DeKalb County and much of northern Illinois was battered by significant storms late Sunday, bringing heavy winds up to 70 mph in some areas. A tornado warning was issued for eastern and central DeKalb County and into neighboring Kane County as heavy rain pelted DeKalb, Cortland and Sycamore, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down Sunday night in the Elburn area of Kane County, about 20 miles east of Sycamore.

Cleanup continues, area braces for another round tonight

Authorities have now turned to cleanup, while bracing for a potential second wave of severe weather Monday night into Tuesday morning.

In his social media post, Pietrowski wrote that a free water station to fill jugs and other items can be found inside Cortland town hall, 59 S. Somonauk Road. He said Cortland Community Library, 63 S. Somonauk Road, can be used to escape the heat.

Somonauk Police Chief Bill King said there was reported storm damage north of the village. Sycamore and DeKalb residents found felled trees near downtown and along residential streets.

Significant tree debris could be seen strewn along the sidewalks and roadsides along Lincoln Highway from Peace Road leading into downtown DeKalb on Monday morning. Road crews were out chopping down limbs in public areas.

On Third Street north of Taylor Street, a downed tree blocked traffic, forcing crews to close off a portion of the roadway until ComEd officials could arrive to help assess damage before removal, said Andy Raih, the city of DeKalb’s director of streets and fleets. Raih said numerous traffic signal outages were reported, including at Macom and Peace roads along with Interstate 88 and Peace. Those were back live and running as of 1:30 p.m., he said.

”Primarily the south corridor was the worst for us,” Raih said, identifying where DeKalb was hit the hardest in Sunday night’s storms. “Roughly Grove Street and south out towards Fairview [Drive], and give or take Evans [Avenue] to First Street. That was kind of our swath if you will. We’ve got a couple limbs, a couple trees blocking roads but few and far between. So today our primary focus is reopening all roadways.”

Residents with downed power lines or live wires should not touch them, Raih cautioned. Instead, they need to call ComEd or their service provider. City crews can’t address downed wires. Crews will block off a roadway if the wires are impacting traffic, however, he said.

If a resident has a tree down in their yard or private property, DeKalb city crews can’t remove that either, Raih said. If a downed tree is in the parkway area – green space between a sidewalk and a road – crews are happy to help move it.

”Anything that’s a parkway tree is our responsibility so they’re very welcome to call the public works department,” Raih said.

DeKalb residents can call 815-748-2040 to report downed debris in public areas. Outside of normal office hours, they should call the DeKalb Police Department’s non-emergency line at 815-748-8400 and authorities can loop in Raih or his team after hours.

Outside of DeKalb, traffic lights at the intersection of Peace and Barber Greene roads, were inoperable Monday morning. DeKalb County Highway Department crews placed temporary stop signs at the intersection. Sullivan said the light appeared to have a power malfunction.

Car overturns in flooded ditch

Sullivan said two traffic crashes reported were storm-related.

About 10 p.m. Sunday, a Dixon resident driving a Chevy Silverado south on East County Line Road, north of Maple Park, struck a fallen tree in the roadway, according to the news release from the sheriff’s office. The driver was not injured in the crash, but the vehicle received moderate front-end damage and had to be towed.

About 1:30 a.m. Monday, deputies responded to report of a driver in a ditch in Genoa. They found a silver Chevy Cobalt that was partially flooded in a ditch alongside Melms Road. The driver, a Portage, Indiana resident, was traveling east on Melms Road when the Chevy hydroplaned into the ditch, where rushing water carried it further down the embankment.

“The driver did exit the vehicle and remain outside the vehicle. While that was happening the vehicle appeared to be sinking further into the ditch, and was engulfed in the water,” Sullivan said. “It finally did stop, it did not submerge completely, and the tow truck arrived and removed the vehicle from the scene.”

Sullivan said DeKalb County has not received reports of significant flooding as a result of the weekend’s storms, but said deputies working the overnight shift felt something other than thunder shake the ground Monday morning.

A 3.4 magnitude earthquake, with a reported depth of 6 miles, occurred at 2:53 a.m. Monday, about a mile northwest of Somonauk, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Sullivan said that rare event did not impact residents as significantly as the tornado-warned severe thunderstorm did Sunday night.

“As far as the earthquake, we received no reports of any damage from that,” Sullivan said.