Thousands still blacked out in Midwest following damaging thunderstorms

Thousands remain without power following storms

CHICAGO — Thousands of utility customers in the Midwest are without electricity following waves of thunderstorms.

In northern Illinois, about 9,300 ComEd customers still had no electricity Saturday night as a result of the severe weather that struck on Friday. In central and southern parts of the state, about 4,300 Ameren Illinois utility customers were without electricity.

Consumers Energy in Michigan says about 22,400 of its customers statewide had no power as of 6 p.m. Saturday.

Iowa and Wisconsin also had scattered outages.

The storms produced torrential rain. The National Weather Service said parts of northern Illinois may have gotten up to 4 inches of rain Friday and Racine, Wis., had a 24-hour total of nearly 7 inches.

Storms also generated high winds across a swath of central and eastern Kansas and may have contributed to a fatal accident near McPherson. The storms also injured two people in Great Bend.