Residents in tornado-stricken areas of Illinois and Indiana are dealing with extensive damage following powerful storms that swept through communities south of Chicago. Cleanup operations have started, and utility companies warn that restoring power may continue into next week.
The storms on Thursday caused significant destruction, tearing roofs from buildings, demolishing homes, and uprooting numerous trees and power lines. This resulted in power outages affecting hundreds of thousands and major disruptions in air travel. Authorities confirmed no deaths or life-threatening injuries but noted that several individuals were treated for minor injuries.
Towns Affected by Tornadoes
Damage from tornadoes was reported in several locations, including Merrillville and Hebron in Indiana, and Streator, Illinois. Authorities were assessing the damage on Friday and preparing to declare emergencies to secure recovery funding.
In Merrillville, 54-year-old CPR instructor Marsha Smith was in her apartment when the storm struck. She and her neighbors sought refuge under a stairwell, experiencing an intense moment of prayer during the tornado’s approach.
Smith described the scene as catastrophic, with over 200 buildings damaged, including some that were destroyed, and streets blocked by downed trees and power lines. Cleanup efforts were in full swing, with multiple agencies assisting local responders.
Emergency services established a 700-bed shelter with help from the American Red Cross to accommodate those displaced. Meanwhile, in and around Streator and Hebron, similar levels of destruction were documented via social media. The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes in these areas and is evaluating the exact count of tornadoes that touched down.
Impact and Response
In Streator, a city located approximately 100 miles southwest of Chicago, emergency crews found nearly a dozen homes damaged. A reunification center for displaced residents was set up at the city hall, and the Red Cross opened a shelter. Streator Mayor Tara Bedei reported no fatalities and expressed gratitude for the rapid response of emergency personnel. Four individuals received treatment for minor injuries at a hospital.
First responders worked throughout the night in Hebron, located about 50 miles southeast of Chicago, conducting damage assessments.
Jennifer Hall from Elkhart, Indiana, experienced damage when a tree limb pierced the roof of her rental home during the storms. She dealt with the leaking roof using buckets to catch the incoming rain.
The incidents occurred following severe storms on Wednesday, which caused additional outages, building damage, and flight cancellations across the Midwest. Nearly 180,000 outages persisted in Illinois by Friday afternoon, down from over 200,000 earlier. In Indiana, roughly 115,000 homes and businesses remained without power.
Commonwealth Edison, an Illinois electricity provider, stated it aimed to restore 80% of outages from Wednesday’s storms by Saturday night and Thursday’s outages by Sunday night. Indiana’s NIPSCO was actively working to restore power but did not provide a specific timeline.
The storms also affected airports, delaying or halting flights in cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. Flights continued to face cancellations and delays on Friday in Chicago’s airports. Additionally, intense heat and humidity challenged parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Thursday.
Amid these events, during Wednesday’s storms, a man in Des Moines, Iowa, died after a tree branch fell, police reported. No other deaths or serious injuries have been immediately linked to those storms.
Reporting credit goes to Associated Press correspondents Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines and Gene Johnson in Seattle.