Tornado touchdown confirmed near Sauk Village, Dyer at Illinois-Indiana border; widespread reports of damage
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Severe storms brought rain, hail, high winds and even a tornado to the Chicago area on Memorial Day.
Isolated storms are expected to develop again overnight, but are not expected to be severe.
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A tornado was confirmed to have touched down near south suburban Sauk Village Monday afternoon, near the Illinois-Indiana border. The touchdown was reported in the area east of Sauk Village and southwest of Dyer, Indiana.
Sauk Village police said there were no sightings or touchdowns in town, but a few homes on the far east side of town lost or sustained damage to their roofs. Police said no injuries have been reported.
The roof of one home came loose during the storm and crashed into a neighbor's house across the street, damaging it as well.
"We evacuated to the downstairs area of our home. The pressure inside the house was, like, hurting our ears really badly," said Tyresha McFadden, homeowner. "We looked outside after the storm kind of calmed down and our roof is across the street in my neighbor's yard, so."
"They told me to get on the floor," said Kyaila McFadden. "Cause I was lying in bed and I was really scared."
The three people in the home across the street were watching TV saw their ceiling crack open. They were not injured.
In Dyer, Indiana, there were also no injuries reported but there was structural damage, as well as downed trees and power lines. One family's shed was ripped off its foundation and flipped over.
"Had to be strong because it is a concrete foundation, and someone found the shed a few blocks away," said Scott Currin.
The storm pulled trees out of the ground and covered neighborhoods with debris. Trees also pulled down power lines and landed on top of homes, leaving some streets without power.
"We had a swing set for my daughter and it picked it up and it is on the other side of the house," Currin said.
The Dyer Fire Department said 100 homes were damaged. Residents are now taking the cleanup into their own hands.
"Also if there are wires down and fences, stay away," said Assistant Fire Chief John Hupper. "We do not know if they are energized. NIPSCO is working on it."
STORM DAMAGE, POWER OUTAGES REPORTED THROUGHOUT CHICAGO AREA
The sudden burst of strong storms caused power outages, airport delays, and storm damage throughout the Chicago area.
ComEd reported 3,382 outages throughout their region following the afternoon storms, 3,140 in Cook County. They are working to restore power to their customers.
In Yorkville the strong wind and sudden downpour pulled down tree branches and split other trees nearly in half. The branches and trunks blocked roadways and fell on cars, though the extent of the damage to the vehicles wasn't immediately clear.
Businesses were also damaged. Along with brush and debris along streets and in the middle of parking lots, the windows of a Sprint store in the 1800-block of Marketview Drive were shattered after high winds sent a sign flying into the glass.
A portion of the roof of a Menard's store in the same shopping center was also blown off. Crews worked into the night to patch the hole, and the store manager said they'd return in the morning to complete the work. The store remained open Monday.
A possible microburst appeared in a flash, strong enough to uproot entire trees. Hail battered homes, buildings and vehicles. Residents had to quickly seek shelter.
Timothy Berenyi found a tree on top of his mother's van and the windshield smashed, but he kept his perspective.
"It could've been worse," Berenyi said.
Yorkville Mayor John Purcell said no injuries have been reported, but storm drains clogged with leaves caused minor flooding. Purcell also said the city was dealing with power outages.
The city will begin removing downed trees and branch debris as early as Tuesday morning.
Kendall County officials said much of the damage was sustained in the northern part of the county, in Plano, Yorkville and Oswego, and appeared to be from severe straight line winds that grew in strength rather than rotating winds from a tornado touchdown.
County officials said emergency responders are still working on calls from the storm and are still collecting information.
In Alsip a gas station canopy collapsed in the 5000-block of West 111th Street, fire officials said. No injuries have yet been reported.
In west suburban Naperville, downed trees and branches blocked roads and residents shared pictures of piles of hail, some as large as half dollar sized.
"We've got a lot of windows. It was just really loud," said Dawn Dalson, Naperville resident. "Honestly, it sounded like we were under attack, and it was terrifying, so I sent us all to the basement."
"It was spinning in circles. The trees were going sideways, and it was just crazy," she added.
Police blocked off streets in the area of River Crest Drive and Naperville Road due to downed power lines and power poles. From the air, the breadth of the flooding was apparent hours after the storm ended, with some streets more suitable for kayaks than cars.
"Flooding was pretty bad. The streets, it was probably halfway up the yard to about there, so we were trying to unplug a lot of the drains," said T.J. Rodebaugh, Naperville residents.
The paint on Rodebaugh's house was taken off by racquetball-sized hail.
"I had a car parked outside that got hit pretty hard, so I've got some hail damage there," he said.
Heavy rain, hail, and strong winds caused similar damage in Plainfield.
In Bolingbrook there were also reports of downed trees, as well as flooding in residential areas.
There were reports of flooding in the city of Chicago, especially on the South Side. A resident of the 400-block of East 90th Street in the city's Chatham neighborhood said his street has been flooded after the heavy rain caused sewers to back up.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications said it activated the tornado sirens for much of the city's South Side as a warning when a tornado warning took effect. The sirens were to alert people to shelter in place immediately, OEMC said, and public safety officials also alerted those at city beaches to immediately seek shelter.
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