Storms' effects weigh on MidwestStory Highlights
500,000 get power back; 120,000 still waiting
Three to five tornadoes may have struck in Michigan
Hospital evacuated as water begins to seep i
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- It could take electric utilities days to restore power to all customers left in the dark by this week's storms, officials said.
A large tree lies across a small car in Chicago, Illinois, after strong storms and heavy rain.
Power was restored by Saturday morning to more than half a million customers in Illinois, but about 120,000 ComEd customers in northern Illinois remained without electricity, said ComEd spokesman Joe Trost.
The storms in Illinois were responsible for at least one death, a man struck by a wind-toppled tree, officials said. In addition, an autopsy was planned on a man found lying in more than 2 feet of water in his basement in suburban Inverness.
Powerful storms rolling through the Upper Midwest over most of the past week caused disastrous floods from southeastern Minnesota to Ohio that were blamed for at least 17 other deaths. Watch cats being rescued in Ohio »
Rain had mostly stopped falling Saturday in northern Illinois as a line of storms moved eastward and southward, but flooding was still a danger for hundreds of thousands of people who live near swollen creeks and rivers.
"There's still a chance of rainfall, but we're not expecting as much and the potential for flash flooding is going away," said Casey Sullivan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The flood alert level for northern Lake County was raised to red, the highest, as the Fox River approached 50-year levels, with flooding possible this weekend when water from rain-drenched Wisconsin arrives downstream.
