Aug. 03--At the St. Scholastica Monastery in Rogers Park, Sunday's hail, rain and wind battered the more than 100-year-old structure.
"It came on very quickly," Sister Mary Melady said. "There was also a very strong wind, I would imagine about 60 miles an hour."
The monastery, built in 1906, lost power three times, and most of the window screens on all four floors of the building were shredded by hail. A large maple tree on the grounds was toppled, and branches flew off trees all across the neighborhood.
"We had hail the size of large marbles," Melady said. "When it calmed down I went outside and the best image would be like we had a snowstorm of leaves."
Rogers Park and West Ridge were hit particularly hard by Sunday's weather, with trees uprooted and traffic signals knocked out throughout the Far North Side of Chicago. More than 7,000 customers had power outages in Chicago, according to Commonwealth Edison. Roughly 75 trees were uprooted in Rogers Park and many others lost branches, according to a news release from Ald. Joe Moore, 49th.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel toured the damage in the 49th Ward on Monday with Charles Williams, commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation.
"Chicago has been responding to the aftermath of last night's storm with the full force of city resources to keep our residents safe, our streets and sidewalks clear and our city on the move," Emanuel said.
The city said it has deployed more than 150 crew members, 14 trucks and 39 pieces of heavy equipment throughout the city to clean up the damage. More than 850 trees were downed in the storm, and 10 garbage trucks were dispatched around the city to pick up tree debris over the next few days.
Moore praised city workers who worked overnight Sunday in the cleanup efforts as well as community members.
"Specialkudos to ward residents who came together yesterday to help clear the streets and sidewalks of downed limbs anddebris," he said.
jacraven@tribpub.com
