CHICAGO (AP) — Severe weather cut power to over half a million people in the Chicago area and northwestern Indiana as perilous thunderstorms and extreme wind gusts pummeled the region on Tuesday. In Ohio, power outages swept the state capital region. More than 600,000 customers lost electricity in Illinois and Indiana, according to poweroutage.us. Lake and Porter counties in Indiana and Will County, Illinois, south of Chicago, were especially hit hard. Nearby in LaPorte County, Indiana, there’s a “tremendous amount of tree damage,” Commissioner Joe Haney said.