Falling Debris Amid High Winds Injures 1 Near Willis Tower

A piece of falling wood injured a driver Wednesday morning near Willis Tower amid a high wind warning in the Chicago area.
Photo credit WBBM Newsradio/Nancy Harty

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A piece of falling wood injured a driver Wednesday morning near Willis Tower amid a high wind warning in the Chicago area.

The debris fell at about 7:40 a.m. from a construction scaffold in the 100 block of South Wacker Drive, according to Chicago police.

The “wooden-type” debris struck two vehicles and smashed the windshield of one of them, police said.

The driver was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with an arm injury, police said. He was listed in good condition.

Scaffolding outside Willis Tower where wind blew off piece of wood into cab windshield. @WBBMNewsradio pic.twitter.com/dmJoCrFHsg

— Nancy Harty (@newsnance) November 27, 2019

A photo of the scene published to social media showed a taxi cab with a whole smashed through the driver’s side of its front windshield.

Willis Tower released a statement Wednesday afternoon about the incident.

“Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, and we are continuing to work with safety officials and ensure that the construction site is secure during periods of high wind,” Willis Tower said in the release.

A high wind warning is set from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts up to 60 mph are expected to blow down power lines, trees and cause outages.

The weather service reported wind gusts of 46 mph at 8:26 a.m. at O’Hare International Airport, and gusts of 52 mph at Midway.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2019. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)