Residents in tornado-ravaged areas in Illinois and Indiana are grappling with damage to their homes and neighborhoods after a strong line of storms barreled through communities south of Chicago. Cleanup efforts were underway Friday and officials were assessing the damage. Dozens of buildings were damaged and scores of trees and power lines were downed. Several hundred thousand customers are without power and dozens of flights at Chicago airports have been canceled or delayed. There were no reports of any deaths from Thursday's storms, although several people were treated for minor injuries. Tornado damage was reported in Merrillville and Hebron, Indiana, as well as in Streator, Illinois.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans are struggling with water shortages so severe that the governor of the U.S. territory has activated the National Guard and emergency responders are fielding calls every day. Officials have not publicly pinpointed the cause. The shortages are largely affecting some of the island’s most populated cities including San Juan. Residents are being forced to buy potable water, spend money at laundromats and haul heavy buckets up several flights of stairs to wash dishes, flush toilets and take showers. The elderly and disabled are struggling the most. Community leaders note some have been hospitalized as water shortages persist.

The mayor of a quake-hit southern Philippine town is pleading for air force helicopters to transport food to stave off hunger in places isolated by landslides. The earthquake Monday off southern Sarangani province has left 47 people dead with 31 others still missing and 45,000 displaced. Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said Thursday that 10 villages remained isolated mostly due to landslides. He pleaded for the immediate deployment of air force helicopters to deliver food to the stricken areas. The town doesn't have power and phone service is spotty.

The artificial intelligence boom is leading to fights in some states over growing utility profits. Governors, attorneys general and others are protesting rising electricity bills and say cash-strapped residents are stuck in a broken system. Officials in over a half-dozen states are going to new lengths to try to block rate increases proposed by utilities. Some are pressing utilities to completely change their model for financing major system upgrades. The push comes during a midterm election year in which “affordability” is the leading theme in Democrats’ attempts to loosen Republicans’ control of Washington.