Tornadoes outside Chicago, storms rip across Midwest

At least three tornadoes battered communities outside Chicago, leveling homes and ripping down trees and power poles, while storms grounded flights and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands in the Midwest and Northeast.

As a large funnel cloud swept through Merrillville, a town about 33 miles (53 kilometers) southeast of Chicago, the city’s police department warned residents to “TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.” Meanwhile, the nearby manufacturing and farm city of Streator set up a family reunification center for displaced residents in its city hall as officials took stock of the major damage.

Streator Mayor Tara Bedei said there were no reported deaths.

The two major Chicago airports, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport, temporarily put all flights on hold in the evening due to thunderstorms. A similar ground stop was issued at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York due to thunderstorms.

By Wednesday evening, more than 1,000 flights going into and out of Chicago had been delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.

Air traffic appeared to return to normal Thursday morning, with only 24 flight cancellations and 34 delays nationwide, FlightAware reported.

Strong winds blew part of the roof off an apartment building in the Chicago area, forcing residents to leave, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Elsewhere, barns collapsed in Wisconsin, buildings were crushed in rural northern Missouri and some large trees and power lines were downed in other areas across the Midwest, photos and video online showed.

Shane Tipton stepped out of his truck in Unionville, Missouri, Wednesday afternoon to find a twister bearing down, said his daughter, Kylie Rouse. He rushed to get his 87-year-old dad out of his mobile home.

They made it back to the truck, drove just far enough away and watched as the tornado obliterated the home. Shattered cabinets, furniture and appliances littered the ground. Clothes hung in trees. They believe they lost one of their hunting dogs, who has been missing since it struck.

Around 390,000 customers had no electricity in the Midwest on Thursday. There were nearly 226,000 outages in Illinois, including around 150,000 in Cook County, while 85,000 homes and businesses were without power in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us.

Commonwealth Edison Company, which provides electric service across northern Illinois, said the storms had downed poles and wires.

“We know this is challenging and will restore service as safely and quickly as conditions allow,” the company said in a post on X.

The storms soaked Rate Field in Chicago before Wednesday night’s game between the White Sox and the Atlanta Braves.


(Photo Kylie Rouse via AP)