Power lines are damaged on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in the area of Whitney Boulevard and Sixth Street in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)
By Susan Moran and Kevin Haas Rock River Current Get our free e-newsletter
BELVIDERE — Powerful storms that rolled through the area on Saturday toppled trees, knocked down power lines and damaged homes and businesses in the city.
The National Weather Service office in Romeoville said radar indicates a strong downburst and straight-line winds caused the damage. There was no official measurement of wind speeds as of Saturday night.
The storms left thousands of people without power in Belvidere and Boone County, according to ComEd. There were nearly 4,000 still without power in Belvidere and an additional 1,400 without power in other parts of Boone County as of about 8 p.m. Saturday, according to ComEd’s power outage map.
Belvidere police said the power outages include several intersections in town. They’re reminding residents to treat those intersections as four-way stops while power is down.
Several outages have also been recorded in northern Winnebago County and other parts of northern Illinois.
Photos | storm damage in Belvidere
Sandy Litts stands next to an uprooted tree at her home on Sixth Street on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)Sandy Litts surveys the damage at her home on Sixth Street on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)Brad Koloch works to clean up storm damage on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, at his home on South State Street in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Rock River Current)People work to clear a tree from the road after storms on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, near Whitney Boulevard and Sixth Street in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)Storms knocked down power lines in the area of Sixth Street and Whitney Boulevard on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)Storms knocked over trees on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)Storms damaged Grease Monkey on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in West Chrysler Drive in Belvidere. (Photo by Susan Moran/Special to the Rock River Current)
