NWS confirms up to 17 tornadoes touches down in Illinois, Indiana last Thursday
CALUMET CITY, Ill. (WLS) -- The National Weather Service has confirmed up to 17 tornadoes touched down in Illinois and Indiana last Thursday.
This comes after another round of storms over the weekend left even more in the Chicago area dealing with property damage.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
17 tornadoes rated by NWS so far:
- Streator, Illinois: EF-3
- Kouts, Indiana: EF-3
- Merrillville, Indiana: EF-2
- Hickory Hills, Illinois to near Midway Airport: EF-2
- Dwight, Illinois area: EF-1
- Bartlett, Illinois: EF-1
- Wenona, Illinois: EF-1
- -EF-1 between Paxton and Loda
- -EF-1 east of Ludlow, IL
- -EF-1 near Boswell, IN
- Naperville, Illinois to Lisle, Illinois: EF-0
- St. John, Indiana: EF-0
- Cedar Lake, Indiana: EF-0
- Schneider, Indiana to Hebron, Indiana area: EF-0
- Wateska, Illinois to near Rensselaer, Indiana: EF-0
- Wateska, Illinois to near Rensselaer, Indiana: EF-0
- -EF-0 from SW of Gibson City to near Elliott
Powerful storms that swept through the south and southwest suburbs caused extensive damage, left thousands without power and sent at least one woman to the hospital after a tree crashed into her home.
A 29-year-old woman remained hospitalized at Christ Hospital after a large maple tree fell onto the Calumet City home she shares with her mother in the city's 6th Ward. Neighbors said emergency responders had to work to rescue her from the damaged house.
"The paramedics had to use like a jaws of life to extract her from the home. But when the tree fell it also severed the gas line, so the gas was super loud. You could here it and you could smell it," said Calumet City resident Brian Holiday.
Across the neighborhood, the storm toppled trees and damaged property. At least three vehicles were destroyed by falling trees, including a GMC Sprinter van whose owner was out of town and attempting to sell it.
"He's not going to be happy. And at least no one is hurt and the tree didn't fall this way," said his sister, Stormy Lucas.
As residents began cleaning up debris, city officials said municipal crews would take an active role in removing storm damage, even when it affected private property.
"I've directed all of my staff. Even if it's on someone's personal property to remove that. You're not going to have them remove that we're going to do that ourselves," said Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones.
POWER OUTAGE TRACKER | See impact in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker
The storms also caused significant power outages across the region. Officials said an additional 9,000 customers lost electricity over the weekend, adding to more than 13,000 who remained without power from last week's severe weather.
ComEd established a staging area in southwest suburban Burbank as crews worked to repair the latest round of damage. The hardest-hit areas included several south and southwest suburban communities.
"The Burbank, Justice, Hickory Hills area saw a lot of damage. The Palos Heights, Alsip, Crestwood areas also saw a lot of damage," said Jeremy Smyth, vice president of distribution operations for ComEd.
Utility officials said they hoped to restore service to most affected customers by late Sunday, though recovery efforts were ongoing as crews continued to assess and repair infrastructure damaged in the storms.
As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, ComEd said it had restored power for 99% of customers affected by the severe weather event.
SEE ALSO | Couple survives EF-3 tornado in Streator, Illinois, man rescued from collapsed home: VIDEO
Over in Downers Grove and Hinsdale the rain flooded roads and parking lots.
This latest round of storms comes at a time when many communities across Illinois and Indiana are attempting to clean up and rebuild after last week's damage.
