More than a dozen tornadoes tore through towns across Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin overnight, shredding homes and tearing up trees and power lines.
After videos posted to social media Thursday evening showed a massive funnel cloud approaching Streator, Illinois State Police reported “heavy damage” from a tornado that touched down in the city, which sits around 100 miles southwest of Chicago.
“It sounded like a train was going through. It blew my front window out,” Streator resident Kathy Spitznagle told NBC News on Thursday, adding that she took shelter in her bathroom when she received a tornado warning on her phone.
Video filmed by a local journalist Thursday showed police pulling an injured man out of the rubble of his destroyed home, as he complained of a possible broken leg.
No deaths had been reported in the city of around 12,000, Streator Mayor Tara Bedei said in a statement Friday.
Drone footage taken over the nearby village of Dwight showed the violent path of another tornado, with a number of homes seen partially or totally destroyed.
Elsewhere, police in the city of Merrillville, Indiana, a town about 33 miles southeast of Chicago, warned residents to take cover as a funnel cloud approached.
By Thursday evening, downed trees and power lines blocked the streets, homes were torn up and part of a high school’s roof was ripped off. The town’s main road was also severely flooded, videos on social media showed.
Enrique Lopez, the fire chief in the nearby city of Hobart, Indiana, said his crews had identified multiple homes that had been damaged by fallen trees, while also dealing with flooded roadways and power outages.
Meanwhile, at Chicago’s Midway Airport, air traffic controllers were forced to evacuate the tower due to a tornado warning.
Videos posted to social media showed torrential rain buffeting planes on the tarmac and travelers inside the terminal were warned to stay away from windows as the severe weather passed over.
Thousands of flights at airports in cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and New York were delayed or canceled due to the storms.
More than a half-million customers were without power across seven states as of midnight.
The Commonwealth Edison Co., which provides electric service across northern Illinois, said the storms had downed poles and wires. It said that it expected “80% restoration” by late Saturday.
In Chicago, the severe weather also led to the postponement of the series finale between the White Sox and the Atlanta Braves.
More than 120 tornadoes have been recorded this spring. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the hardest-hit states have been Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois.
Further storms in the region are possible over the weekend. The National Weather Service is warning of an enhanced risk of severe weather across eastern Kansas, Missouri and western Illinois on Saturday.
