CHICAGO (AP) — Crews resumed their cleanup work Monday in Chicago following a weekend storm that lashed the city’s lakefront with large waves and high winds, stripping away sections of asphalt along pedestrian paths.
The storm Saturday and early Sunday toppled trees and power lines and prompted the cancellation of more than 1,200 flights at Chicago’s Midway and O’Hare international airports.
The biggest impact was along the lakefront, where 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) waves flooded streets and left portions of Chicago’s lakefront path system in pieces, with crumbling asphalt and piles of sand in several locations.
“It was rough,” said South Shore resident Herbert Johnson. “Very rough, never seen it that rough.”
The Chicago Park District said crews were expected to begin cleanup work in those areas Monday.
No one was seriously hurt during the storm and Chicago resident Walter Richard said he’s grateful that officials had about 3,000 tons (2,700 metric tons) of rocks placed along the lakeshore just weeks ago.
“Two weeks ago they dumped all those stone on the shore and it completely saved the beaches there,” Richard said.
