Chicagoans Ignore Gale-Force Winds

Some residents ignore barriers along Lake Shore Drive
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 30, 2011 3:52 PM CDT

High winds whipped up waves as big as 16 feet today and temporarily knocked out power for some 32,000 Chicagoans, the Chicago Tribune reports. Only 2,200 lacked power later on, but gale warnings are in effect until 10pm, and authorities have raised barricades along Lake Shore Drive to keep joggers and cyclists away, says the Chicago Sun-Times. A news helicopter recorded several people who ignored the warnings and tumbled in the waves, MSNBC reports. No injuries were reported.

A cold front crept in yesterday and triggered the gale warning, which stretches along Lake Michigan from the Illinois-Wisconsin border to Indiana. The National Weather Service warns that winds could reach 50mph and cause 25-foot waves. Winds have reached 49mph in Chicago, knocking bricks off a house facade onto cars, and 60mph in nearby Michigan City, Indiana. Rain also battered the area, hitting Chicago with 2.5 inches over the past 5 days—equivalent to 75% of its average September rainfall. (More Chicago stories.)

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