Blue line trains running normally after storms knock over canopy

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Blue Line trains are running normally after a second round of severe weather knocked over a canopy on a pedestrian ramp at a Near West Side station and left more than 14,000 without power early Monday.

Shortly before 7 p.m., crews were called to the Illinois Medical District Blue Line station at 430 S. Damen Ave., where the aluminum canopy over a pedestrian ramp to the platform was knocked over, according to the Chicago Fire Department and the CTA. A train that was in the station was evacuated, but no injuries were reported. Fire officials initially said the ramp had collapsed, but the CTA corrected that information.

"We are still assessing the full scope of the damage," CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said at the time.

Blue Line trains were running regularly by 4:20 a.m. Monday. Trains were temporarily suspended and service was disrupted while crews repaired the canopy overnight.

A tree also fell on the Brown Line tracks during the storm, blocking trains between Armitage and Sedgwick. Trains were running normally by the beginning of service Monday morning.

As many as 56,000 people were left in the dark after the storm, but as of 4:30 a.m. Monday, that number was down to 14,000 ComEd customers without power in Cook County, including more than 9,000 in Chicago, according to the utility agency. About 3,600 people were without power in south suburban Blue Island, as were about 1,400 in Palos Hills.

Conditions were expected to be much improved Monday, with a high of 86 degrees and clear skies, forecasters said.

The severe weather followed a turbulent night of Saturday storms that knocked out power for about 15,000 people.