Tornado Recovery: U-Haul Extends Help to Chicagoland Storm Victims

58 stores across the Chicago metro area and northern Indiana will offer a month of free storage services on new rentals

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U-Haul^® is offering 30 days of free self-storage and U-Box^® container usage to residents affected by the powerful storms and tornadoes that devastated Chicagoland and northwest Indiana.

The National Weather Service stated seven tornadoes touched down across Chicago metro, Sugar Grove, Oswego, Manhattan and Joliet on Monday night. Countless homes were damaged or destroyed. Power lines were taken down by the intense storms.

Access to dry and secure self-storage lockers and portable storage containers is essential for communities during the recovery process.

Rick Rottweiler, U-Haul Area District Vice President of the Chicagoland area, has made 58 facilities in Illinois and northern Indiana available to extend the U-Haul disaster relief program with a month of free storage services.

“Many families were impacted by the severe weather that came through the Chicagoland area and northwest Indiana,” Rottweiler said. “We are a longstanding part of these communities and want to help. U-Haul would like to extend a hand to all those that could use it during this time.”

The 30-day free disaster relief program applies to new self-storage and U-Box rentals and is based on availability. U-Box containers can be delivered and picked up at no additional cost as part of the offer.

People seeking more information or needing to arrange storage services should call the U-Haul office nearest them or stop by any U-Haul-owned and -operated center in the cities listed below:

U-Haul Co. of Central Chicago

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Store locations: Arlington Heights, Broadview, Bellwood, Cicero, Chicago (3), Des Plaines, Forest Park, Melrose Park, Rolling Meadows

U-Haul Co. of Chicago South & Southwest Suburbs

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Store locations: Alsip, Chicago (8), Oak Lawn, Romeoville

U-Haul Co. of Chicago Western Suburbs

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Store locations: Aurora (2), Bolingbrook, Elgin, Hanover Park (2), Hoffman Estates, Montgomery, Naperville, Streamwood

U-Haul Co. of North Shore Chicago

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Store locations: Chicago (7), Evanston, Morton Grove, Niles

U-Haul of North Indiana & South Cook County

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Store locations: Calumet City, Elkhart, Glenwood, Hammond, Markham (2), Merrillville, Mishawaka (3), Park Forest, Schererville (2), South Bend

The U-Haul Companies of Eastern Iowa and Western Iowa have extended the disaster relief offer at six stores after the same weather system rolled through Iowa and western Illinois before reaching Chicago. Find that announcement here: https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/Storm-Recovery-U-Haul-Offers-30-Days-Free-Storage-To-Iowa-Storm-Victims-31970/.

In addition to its 30 days free self-storage disaster relief program, U-Haul is proud to be at the forefront of aiding communities in times of need as an official American Red Cross Disaster Responder.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The U-Haul app makes it easy for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and -return options on their smartphones with our patented Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 188,700 trucks, 139,400 trailers and 43,700 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 1,004,000 rentable units and 86.8 million square feet of self-storage space at Company-owned and -managed facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. Get the U-Haul app from the App Store or Google Play.