Intense Storms Knock Out Power for Over 10,000 in Kankakee County, NW Indiana

Fierce winds and heavy damage leave thousands without electricity across the region.

Published on Mar. 11, 2026

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More than 10,000 customers lost power after a band of intense storms tore through parts of Kankakee County, Illinois and northwest Indiana, heavily damaging homes and toppling trees. The majority of the outages were reported in and around Kankakee, as well as in Jasper and Newton counties in Indiana, which were among the hardest-hit areas.

Why it matters

Widespread power outages can have significant impacts on communities, disrupting daily life, affecting businesses, and posing risks to vulnerable populations. The severe weather event highlights the need for robust infrastructure and emergency preparedness in the face of increasingly extreme weather patterns.

The details

According to utility companies, as of 9 p.m. on the night of the storms, ComEd reported 4,518 customers without power in the Kankakee area, with around 1,800 of those affected in the Aroma Park community where buildings were severely damaged. NIPSCO in northwest Indiana also reported more than 4,400 outages across the region.

  • The intense storms hit the region on March 11, 2026.

The players

ComEd

The electric utility company serving northern Illinois, including the Kankakee area.

NIPSCO

The electric and natural gas utility serving northwest Indiana.

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What they’re saying

“Our crews are on alert and will be ready to respond to any reported outages.”

— ComEd (ComEd website)

What’s next

Utility crews will continue working to restore power to affected customers in the coming days.

The takeaway

This severe weather event underscores the importance of investing in resilient energy infrastructure and emergency preparedness measures to mitigate the impacts of increasingly extreme storms on local communities.