After massive storms ripped through the Chicago area on Monday, ComEd said Tuesday that it estimated some residents wouldn't have their power restored until Saturday.
"We have restored power to 478,000+ customers, but we're expecting it will take multiple days to restore service to all customers affected by the storm," ComEd said in a statement the utility giant posted on Twitter.
"Our current estimate is that all customers will be restored by 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 15. We recommend customers take whatever steps they feel necessary to keep themselves and their families safe during this time," the statement continued.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 360,000 Chicago area residents remained without power after a series of powerful storms roared through the region.
According to ComEd, 362,280 customers were in the dark as of 10:41 a.m., with crews working to restore service after thunderstorms packing wind gusts in excess of 75 miles per hour hammered the city and surrounding suburbs.
More than 160,000 of those were in Cook County, equating to roughly 7% of all ComEd customers in the county.
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Nearly 67,000 people in Will County remained without power, which represents more than 26% of all ComEd customers in the county.
And nearly 40,000 customers in DuPage County were without power Tuesday morning - roughly 11% of all ComEd customers in that county.
The storms entered the region at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Monday, hitting the city and surrounding suburbs. Several photos of downed trees, particularly in the western suburbs, surfaced on social media.
The storms brought wind gusts in excess of 90 miles per hour, with the National Weather Service on Tuesday confirming that at least one tornado had touched down in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood before turning into waterspout on Lake Michigan.
ComEd noted that the storms caused "significant damage" in the service area, bringing "downed power lines and poles and broken limbs and tree-related damage."
ComEd encouraged residents to take several precautions, in particular advising that they always assume a power line is energized and to not approach one.
Additionally, the utility company asked residents not to approach crews to ask about restoration times, since they may be working on live electrical equipment and are practicing social distancing.
Anyone who spots a downed power line, or has to report an outage, is asked to immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON (1-800-334-7661). Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).
