Thursday, June 23, 2016

Multiple Tornadoes Trap Residents Near Chicago; Derecho Leaves Damage From Illinois to Virginia

Eric Chaney
Published: June 23,2016

At least four tornadoes touched down in near Chicago Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service says, and thousands were left without power across the Midwest as a derecho swept through the region, leaving a trail of damage from Illinois all the way to Virginia.
Here are the latest impacts from these storms:

Illinois

Debris litters a cornfield after severe weather hit the Sterling Estates mobile home park in Pontiac, Illinois, Wednesday night.
(James Neveau/NBC Chicago)






































Shortly before 10:30 p.m. CDT, a large cone tornado moved into the town of Pontiac, Illinois. The tornado ripped off the side of a Shell gas station, tossing mangled metal and wood around, ABC7 reports. Some pieces shattered the windows of parked cars. The glass hit one person, but the injuries were minor.
The driver of a semi parked at the gas station suffered a dislocated shoulder after the winds blew his truck over into its side, the station said.
Storm spotters reported seeing power flashes before much of the town of 12,000 lost power, and chasers who followed the storm into Pontiac saw destroyed mobile homes at a trailer park. According to the fire chief in Pontiac, two children inside a mobile home suffered minor injuries, WGN reports.
In the town of Seneca, fire crews were responding to reports of people trapped in a home, but nobody was believed to be injured inside the dwelling.
Area homeowner Jeff Maierhofer told ABC7 he and his family huddled together with several neighbors in the basement when the storm hit his farm, which dates back to the 1800's.
(MORE: Dangerous Storms Expected in Midwest)
"There's lots of extensive damage to the farm. We're not really sure about the house. There's no power up there right now. Haven't really been home because there's powerlines around there," he said. "Everybody's fine. All the neighbors are fine. Everybody checked in with everybody. But there's a lot of damage."
This is a strong argument for why you shouldn't take cover in a car when a tornado is about to hit.

The night began when a tornado was observed briefly near Amboy, Illinois, by trained spotters at about 7:15 p.m. CDT Wednesday night. The second tornado was reportedly in progress just minutes later in Lee County, near the towns of Paw Paw and Compton. The NWS reported tree damage in Compton.
Tornado!! 730 east of amboy, IL ~10 Miles. @NWStornado @NWSChicago @JWSevereWeather
 
Hannah Eason, who lives in Morris, drove through the storm, ABC 7 reports.
"I was thinking I was going to die. I was really thinking that something bad was going to happen. It was just bad. I was about to cry," Eason said. "The rain... I couldn't even see when I was driving, the road.
Unconfirmed tornadoes were also reported near the Illinois towns of La Moille, Manlius, Leland, Troy Grove and Sheridan, the NWS also said. As many as 18 reports of tornadoes came in Wednesday night, and NWS survey crews headed out Thursday morning to conduct damage surveys along 3 separate supercell paths.
A home in the north Chicago suburb of Evanston is "uninhabitable" after a lightning strike sparked a fire Wednesday evening, CBS Chicago reports. A neighbor called to report the two-story home had been stuck lightning and fire crews arrived to find smoke coming from the eaves and a fire in the attic, the fire department said. No injuries were reported.
The storms then marched toward Chicago, and at Soldier Field, some 50,000 soccer fans attending the Copa America semifinal game between Chile and Colombia were asked to clear the stands and seek shelter Wednesday evening, according to the Associated Press. The teams were allowed to play the first half, but storms moved in at halftime, forcing stadium officials to activate the storm safety plan.
Localized flooding was also reported in some areas. In the town of Palatine, Illinois, low-lying areas took on water quickly.

Indiana

The severe storms rolled eastward through Indiana later Wednesday evening, damaging several buildings, a radio tower and downing numerous trees across the state. 
A large outbuilding on a farm near Brookston containing several tractors, a combine and other farm equipment had its roof completely ripped off, WTHR reports.  
Storm damage southeast of Brookston

The high winds during knocked over a radio tower in Russiaville early Thursday morning.
"Just all of a sudden it was raining sideways and blowing so hard, you couldn't see in front of your face," Russiaville Town Marshal Roger Waddell told Fox 59. "We heard tree limbs snapping and I heard some stuff blowing around."
View image on Twitter
Check this out. A radio tower down in Russiaville. Damage to some RV's but otherwise blocking roadway.

The tower, which was mostly used for a broadband internet service, landed on some power lines and was resting on the roof of an RV business.
Steve Jones, the owner of State of the Art Communication, told WISH local ambulances also used the tower for communication, and he is working on a plan to get it fixed.
The Indianapolis Power & Light Company reported Thursday morning that more than 10,000 customers were without power in the Indianapolis area. 

Ohio 

A storm survey team will be out Thursday to see if a tornado touched down during the overnight storms in Warren and Clinton County, WWLT reports.
No injuries have been reported, the station said, but, photos and video from the area showed a variety of damage to trees, wires and some buildings between Waynesville and Wilmington. Trees were also reported down on houses in West College Corner, Madison Township and Hyde Park.
Around 34,000 Duke Energy customers were left without power at one point during the storm.

No comments:

Post a Comment