MAROA - Craig Culp wasn't too surprised to see a tree branch that had been dangling since the ice storm two years ago finally come down Saturday afternoon.

But he wasn't expecting to find, after he emerged from his basement, that strong winds had blown off part of his shed's roof, scattering debris into the field behind his house west of Maroa.

"It didn't last very long," Culp said. "It blew really hard for about 20 seconds, then it was over."

Culp, clerk of Austin Township, was among at least eight property owners in Macon County whose outbuildings or machine sheds were damaged by wind Saturday.

Phil Anello, emergency management agency coordinator, said that's how many reports he had received by Saturday evening, with most of the damage occurring in the northwestern part of the county but also some along Harryland Road near Mount Zion.

"It's Dec. 27, and Mother Nature is reminding us that tornadoes can happen any time of year," Anello said.

Logan County was hit even harder, with seven utility poles downed in Lincoln and more than 3,000 Ameren customers left without power for several hours. Terry Storer, deputy director of emergency management, said downed power lines temporarily closed Illinois 10 east and west of Lincoln while flooding forced closure of Illinois 121 near Latham.

"We had widespread damage throughout the county," he said. "Some buildings lost roofs, and some tool sheds turned up missing."

Dan Kelly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said straight-line winds up to 60 mph passed through the area Saturday with more than an inch of rain reported before 4:30 p.m. in Lincoln and Decatur.

Tornado watches and warnings were issued for several Central Illinois counties, including Macon.

Lt. John Butts said the Macon County Sheriff's Office asked road commissioners in Harristown and Illini townships to put up signs alerting motorists about water on roads west and northwest of Decatur.

Dan Mendenall, street and sewers supervisor, said the areas that flooded in Decatur were the 900 block of East Condit Street, Monroe Street just north of Eldorado Street and Oakland Avenue just north of West Main Street but that no vehicles had gotten swamped.

"Unless we get another heavy downpour, those areas will reopen overnight," Mendenall said Saturday evening.

Rain and severe thunderstorms caused some problems in Shelbyville. Several roads were water covered but there were no reports of injuries or serious damage as the storms blew through Saturday afternoon.

In the Robinson's creek bottoms west of Shelbyville, secondary roads were water covered. Shelbyville city workers were out in the rain removing debris from drains on city streets.

In Sangamon County, high winds blew off a large section of a school district administrative building roof in Springfield. Debris was scattered nearby.

As the storm passed through the Bloomington-Normal area, winds reached speeds of 59 mph. Trees, power lines and farm outbuildings were damaged throughout the area, especially along Ireland Grove Road east of Bloomington-Normal.

Ameren reported about 7,000 customers without power in the state about three hours after the storm passed.

In the Chicago suburb of Riverside, authorities encouraged residents along the Des Plaines River to evacuate, saying the river was expected to rise to nearly 10 feet by Sunday morning.

Winds knocked out power to 63,600 ComEd customers Saturday, Burdick said. Of those, 55,000 had power restored by Saturday evening, and 164 crews were working to restore service to the remaining 8,600. About 3,700 customers without power were in Chicago, and another 1,800 were in the north suburban region, Burdick said.

In Chicago, crews turning Wrigley Field into an ice rink for the upcoming National Hockey League's Winter Classic removed snow from the stadium Friday. Who knew rain would have washed it away the next day?

Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said Saturday that the agency was in "readiness mode" and making sure local officials are aware of the flooding advisories.

tchurchill@herald-review.com|421-7978

The Associated Press contributed to this report