Feb. 21--The wind has died down, but city officials are still monitoring the damages after high winds Friday caused the evacuation of several Loop buildings, power outages, transportation delays and fallen trees.
City departments met several times Saturday morning to assess the situation involving a 54-story office building being constructed at 150 N. Riverside Plaza, which caused the evacuation of three high-rises because debris was "flying out" from the structure and blowing against the windows of three high-rises, fire officials said. Wacker Drive was closed to traffic.
Debris also came from another building under construction at 434 W. Lake St., said Office of Emergency Management and Communications spokesman Gary Schenkel on Friday. No one was injured.
City officials tried to inspect the property early Saturday but determined the area was still unsafe. They were able to safely assess the property around noon and decided it was secure enough to reopen surrounding traffic and nearby CTA trains by late Saturday afternoon, said Rich Guidice, managing deputy director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
An additional street closing following Friday's windy conditions was put into effect Saturday morning because city officials had concerns about scaffolding on a building being rehabbed. Construction on a building at 2001 S. State St. has caused State Street from 21st to Cullerton streets to remain closed to pedestrians and motorists, said Melissa Stratton, a spokeswoman with OEMC.
The CTA Green and Pink Line trains have had temporary closings through Saturday due to debris blown onto the tracks by wind gusts Friday afternoon, spokesman Jeff Tolman said. Green Line service has been suspended between the Ashland and Clark/Lake stops since Friday evening, though shuttle buses are available to transport passengers to the Morgan, Clinton and Clark/Lake stops Friday and Saturday.
Loop-bound Pink Line trains have been operating between the 54th, Cermak and Polk stops, and then diverting passengers who wish to continue service downtown to the nearby Blue Line Racine station, he said. Service on both the Green and Pink lines is expected to return to normal Saturday afternoon.
As for electricity, there were about 3,400 ComEd customers without power in Chicago as of 2 p.m., Guidice said. A ComEd statement late Saturday afternoon said they have restored power to 99 percent of the initial 260,000 customers affected after winds that reached speeds of 70 mph hit the area, snapping powerlines and bringing down debris and trees onto electrical lines.
As of 11 a.m., streetlights near United Center continued to have problems and were flashing and inoperable, and officials were working on 47 tree emergencies, Stratton said.
About 279 traffic signals were affected by the storm, and about 250 tree emergencies occurred, Guidice said.
Both airports reported normal operations Saturday afternoon.
