Major storms whipped up tornadoes that killed at least two people in northwest Indiana and leveled buildings in Kankakee, Illinois, authorities said Wednesday, as another round of rain, hail and strong winds made its way through the region.
Several intense supercell thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana on Tuesday, including one supercell responsible for 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 Tuesday night in front of a destroyed home in the small northwestern Indiana community of Lake Village.
Crews rescued some people who were trapped in their damaged homes, at least 70 utility poles were knocked down and many roads are unpassable, Newton County officials said at a Wednesday morning news conference.
A tornado struck a Lake Village home, killing an elderly couple, Newton County Coroner Scott McCord said in a statement. Their names have not 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 kilometers) southeast of Chicago and 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Kankakee County, Illinois, where at least one tornado struck Tuesday night.
David Ferris, of Lake Village, said he, his wife, and their dogs “rode it out in our downstairs bathtub.” They were unscathed, except for losing power. Ferris, who works as a paramedic in a neighboring county, helped with rescue efforts and treated some who suffered cuts, scrapes and bumps to the head.
“We had another house where a guy crawled out,” Ferris told The Associated Press. “He was having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation.”
Ferris said the local Family Dollar store was destroyed, as well as a gas station across the street. He said multiple large trees were uprooted.
Jennifer Telford, 49, said she hid in her basement in Lake Village, from where she followed news reports of the storm. She didn’t hear the tornado that struck to the south, but said she heard the hail as it pelted her roof.
“The siren in town didn’t go off,” she said. “The sirens outside town did.”
Telford is one of the managers of a truck stop near U.S. 41. She said power at the business was returned Wednesday morning.
“I know the other side of town — everything is closed due to the downed trees and power lines,” she said.
About 4,300 customers in Lake Village and surrounding communities were without power late Wednesday morning, down from more than 11,000 customers at the peak of the storm, the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said on its website.
Survey crews were expected to determine the strength and number of tornadoes on Wednesday, the weather service said.
In Kankakee, Illinois, the storms also produced exceptionally large hail, ranging from 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 centimeters) in diameter. One 6-inch (15.2-centimeter) diameter hailstone may have set a new state record, the weather service said.
Nine people in Kankakee County suffered minor injuries, officials there said at a news conference Wednesday.
Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio remained under a tornado watch Wednesday morning.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posted on X that he'd been briefed on the storm and tornado damage.
“Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather — we’ll be here to help them recover,” he said.
A tornado touched down near the Kankakee fairgrounds before traveling northeast into the small suburb of Aroma Park, where it caused extensive damage, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said.
In video shared on social media, the twister rips across a field near an airport while vehicles line the road.
“I want to remind area residents to check on their neighbors and loved ones but to avoid unnecessary travel, if at all possible,” Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said in a statement.
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