Major storms generated tornadoes that killed at least two people in northwest Indiana and flattened buildings in Kankakee, Illinois, as another bout of rain, hail and strong winds made its way through the region.
Several intense supercell thunderstorms swept across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana on Tuesday, including one supercell that unleashed at least four tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service office in Chicago.
“Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now,” Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in a video update on Tuesday night as he stood in front of a ruined home in the small northwestern Indiana community of Lake Village.
Crews rescued some people trapped in their damaged homes, at least 70 utility poles were knocked down, and many roads were unpassable, Newton County officials said at a Wednesday morning news conference.
A tornado struck a Lake Village home, killing an elderly couple, whose names have not yet been released.
Fewer than 10 people were hurt in Tuesday’s storms, according to Laurie Postma, a spokesperson for the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department in Lake Village.
Lake Village is about 60 miles (95 kilometres) southeast of Chicago and 25 miles (40 kilometres) west of Kankakee County, Illinois, where at least one tornado landed on Tuesday night.
David Ferris, of Lake Village, said he, his wife, and their dogs “rode it out in our downstairs bathtub”.
They were unscathed, but their home was left without power.
Mr Ferris, who works as a paramedic in a neighbouring county, helped with rescue efforts and treated some who were injured.
“We had another house where a guy crawled out,” Mr Ferris said. “He was having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation.”
Mr Ferris said the local Family Dollar store was destroyed, as well as a petrol station across the street. He said several large trees were uprooted.
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Jennifer Telford, 49, a truck stop manager, said she hid in her basement in Lake Village.
She did not hear the tornado that struck to the south, but said she heard the hail pummelling her roof.
“The siren in town didn’t go off,” she said. “The sirens outside town did.”
Around 4,300 customers in Lake Village and surrounding communities were without power late on Wednesday morning, down from more than 11,000 customers at the storm’s peak, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company said on its website.
In Kankakee, Illinois, the storms also produced hail ranging from three to five inches in diameter.
One six-inch diameter hailstone may have set a new state record, the weather service said.
Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio remained under a tornado watch on Wednesday morning.
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“Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather – we’ll be here to help them recover,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker posted on X.
Meanwhile, a tornado touched down near the Kankakee fairgrounds before travelling northeast into the small suburb of Aroma Park, where it caused extensive damage, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said.
In a video shared on social media, the tornado rips across a field near an airport while vehicles line the road.
“I want to remind area residents to check on their neighbours and loved ones but to avoid unnecessary travel, if at all possible,” sheriff Mike Downey said in a statement.
