CHICAGO (WLS) -- Homes and streets are flooded in parts of the Chicago area on Tuesday evening after storms brought heavy downpours to the city and suburbs.

Heavy rain moved into the Chicago metro area between 2 and 4 p.m., and storms continued to develop over the same areas until 8 p.m. Wind gusts reached up to 45 mph in parts of the area, at times, ABC7 Chicago AccuWeather Meteorologist Cheryl Scott said.

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A downed tree nearly missed an Edgewater couple's apartment.

Jason Ivanitz said his wife heard what sounded like a lightning strike. She then looked outside of her window and watched as a massive tree came crashing down.

"Wrong place, wrong time, it could've been bad," Ivanitz said. "She heard, like, a 'boom.'"

That tree lan

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