Key facts
- Tornadoes caused extensive damage to homes and buildings in communities south of Chicago.
- Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power in Illinois and Indiana.
- Air travel was disrupted at several airports.
- No immediate reports of deaths or life-threatening injuries were issued from Thursday's storms.
- The National Weather Service is surveying damage to determine the number of tornadoes.
Officials and residents are assessing damage and searching tornado-ravaged areas in Illinois and Indiana after a severe storm system swept through communities south of Chicago. The storms, which occurred on Thursday, left approximately 380,000 customers without power across both states and disrupted air travel.
In Merrillville, Indiana, extensive damage was reported, including destroyed homes, downed trees and power lines, and a portion of a high school's roof being torn off. Multiple agencies are assisting local first responders in search and damage assessment efforts. Similar damage was observed in Streator, Illinois, and Hebron, Indiana, according to the National Weather Service, which plans to survey the affected areas over the coming days to determine the exact number of tornadoes.
In Streator, emergency crews were inspecting damage, and a reunification center was established at city hall, with the Red Cross opening a shelter for displaced residents. A resident in Elkhart, Indiana, reported a tree limb crashing through her roof during the storm.
Severe storms had previously moved through the Midwest on Wednesday, causing power outages and damage. A man in Des Moines, Iowa, died after being struck by a falling tree during those storms.