The Brief Schools across parts of Chicagoland are closed Wednesday after Tuesday’s severe storms caused widespread damage and power outages. More than 420,000 customers in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana remained without power as of 6 a.m. Wednesday. Schools across parts of Chicagoland are closed Wednesday as communities clean up from Tuesday’s destructive storms, which produced at least three tornadoes and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power. Officials have not said what caused the explosion or whether it was connected to the severe weather. What's next:Cleanup and power restoration efforts are ongoing as more severe weather could develop Wednesday.