2023-07-13 19:17:00
According to the Chicago National Weather Service, a tornado was on the ground around 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“This tornado has touched down intermittently so far and is moving east. There are other traffic along the line south of O’Hare. Seek shelter if you are in the warning zone. At 8 p.m., the Weather Service said the Chicago metro area was “currently clear of a tornado warning.” The storm moved into Michigan before crossing the state and Canada on Thursday. Tornado watches that were in effect for parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have all ended.
Videos from television stations showed hundreds of people taking cover in a hall in O’Hare. According to flight tracking service FlightAware, 173 flights out of the airport have been canceled and more than 500 have been delayed.
Kevin Bargnes, director of communications for O’Hare and Chicago Midway Airports, told WGN-TV Wednesday night that no damage was reported at either airport.
The National Weather Service had issued two tornado warnings for Chicago on Wednesday evening. Tornado warning sirens sounded, warning people to seek shelter.
Longtime Chicago resident Lynn Becker posted a video to Twitter showing tornado warning sirens blaring across the city’s iconic landscape.
“I’m in a 60-story apartment building, so my options are somewhat limited,” he lamented. “I guess we have to get to the heart of the building.”
Ms Becker said the storm was making headlines in the local media.
“There is a certain panic when you look at a TV screen and everything is red… but the hope is that the damage is minimal,” she said.
Local media reported that warehouses near the airport were damaged.
The Weather Service quoted an unidentified emergency manager as saying a roof was blown away in the community of Huntley in McHenry County, northwest of Chicago. Huntley Battalion Chief Mike Pierce told ABC-7-TV that firefighters and other emergency services were responding to downed power lines, toppled trees and tree limbs, and power outages. had been reported. Building damage appeared to be concentrated around two apartment buildings, he said.
More than 10,000 customers have lost power in the region, according to poweroutage.us.
In Hodgkins, southwest of Chicago, police reported storm damage and debris was found on the north end of town near a shopping mall.
Earlier Wednesday, the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center said there was an increased risk of severe weather, including tornadoes, in northern Illinois, including Chicago.
Brett Borchardt, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed to WGN-TV that multiple tornadoes touched down in the Chicago area. He said assessing the damage would likely take several days.
Over the years, numerous tornadoes have affected the Chicago metropolitan area, and several have affected the city of Chicago itself, according to the National Weather Service. Between 1855 and 2021, the Weather Service recorded 97 significant tornadoes in the Chicago metropolitan area.
The deadliest formed in Palos Hills, Cook County on April 21, 1967. The tornado traveled 16 miles (26 kilometers) through Oak Lawn and southern Chicago, killing 33 people, injuring 500 and causing more than $50 million in damage, according to the weather service.
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