Deadly derecho slams Chicago as storms uproot trees, rip roofs from homes along 500-mile stretch of Midwest
CHICAGO – Sirens wailed across the Chicago metro for the second night in a row on Monday as a powerful and deadly derecho tore across the Midwest, leaving a nearly 500-mile-long path of destruction from Iowa to Indiana.
The National Weather Service in Chicago is in the process of conducting damage surveys and, as of Tuesday evening, has confirmed at least 12 tornadoes across northern Illinois, including an EF-1 on the west side of Chicago.
Thunderstorms packing wind gusts as high as a Category 2 hurricane snapped trees like twigs, tore the roofs from buildings and brought down power lines that left hundreds of thousands of people in the dark.
The derecho also claimed at least one life after officials in Indiana said a tree was brought down onto a home in Cedar Lake, killing a 44-year-old woman inside.
It was an extremely busy and exhausting night at the National Weather Service office in Chicago, which at one point even had to scramble to take shelter from the storms themselves.
Forecasters there issued 16 Tornado Warnings on Monday – the third-most Tornado Warnings issued in one day by the office. That’s behind 19 warnings issued on April 20, 2004, and 18 warnings on May 30, 2003.
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The severe weather first begin to impact the Chicago area around 9 p.m. Monday night when confirmed Tornado Warnings were issued for the western suburbs of Aurora, Oswego, Du Page and Naperville.
By 9:30 p.m., all of Chicago was placed under a Tornado Warning, with observers at Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) reporting two tornadoes, and another spotted at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
"We are seeing power flashes on both the O’Hare and Midway Airport webcams due to likely tornadoes and/or destructive wind gusts near those areas," the NWS said on X, formerly Twitter. "Continue to take these warnings seriously."
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O’Hare reported a peak wind gust of 75 mph – as high as a Category 1 hurricane, during the severe weather on Monday night, while both Rockford and Naperville reported wind gusts of 68 mph.
A partial garage collapse was reported in the Chicago neighborhood of Broadview, and the roof was blown off a home in Crestwood.
A video recorded in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago also showed several large trees that were brought down and blocked roadways.
The NWS in Chicago is in the process of conducting damage surveys in almost 30 different areas to confirm whether tornadoes were responsible for the copious amounts of damage across the region.
Farther to the west, the NWS office in Des Moines confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down on Monday, making it the second tornado to move through the city this year.
Monday's tornado had winds between 100-105 mph and was on the ground for more than 7 miles.
Another EF-1 tornado was reported in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday night. The NWS said that the tornado had winds of 100 mph and was on the ground for nearly 8 miles.
The tornadoes in Des Moines and Davenport mean that two out of the three largest cities in Iowa was hit by a tornado on Monday.
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The powerful winds were not only limited to the Chicago area. Extensive damage has been reported across the Midwest from Iowa to Indiana, and hundreds of thousands of power outages have been reported as a result.
A 105 mph wind gust, which is as strong as a Category 2 hurricane, was reported in Camp Grove, Illinois, and a 101 mph wind gust was reported in Davis Junction.
Several other areas also reported hurricane-force wind gusts, including Lena, Illinois, and Aurora, Iowa.
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There were at least six reports of trees that fell onto homes in Indiana, including the one that claimed the life of the woman in Cedar Lake.
A tractor-trailer driver was also injured when a tree fell onto their truck while driving on Interstate 69 in Auburn, Indiana.
Damage to trees was also reported in South Bend and Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a wind gust of 71 mph was reported in Athens.
Indianapolis was also hit hard by the derecho, with a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
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Joliet, Illinois, resident Tyler Hicks told FOX 32 Chicago he was in the middle of making dinner for his family when the situation turned dangerous.
"It was horrible," he said. "We’re kind of just sitting down about to make dinner, and then we got the little warning on our phone. We didn’t know if it was actually going to hit us or not. It seemed nice and calm outside. Then, five minutes later, we heard big wind gusts and looked out the window."
That’s when he said he saw a massive tree that was brought down by the powerful winds.
Hicks said part of that tree went through the roof of his home.
"It’s leaking into our bedroom now," he said. "It’s, like, damaged the whole front door and window, and hopefully, we get it out of here sometime soon. I can’t even get out of the front of the house."
The powerful line of thunderstorms that swept across the region also led to numerous crashes along Interstate 55 from the Channahon area to north of Wilmington in Illinois after power lines toppled across the interstate, forcing a miles-long closure.
FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic was caught up in the storms and described the night as "chaotic to say the least."
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"There were seven vehicles actually trapped in between high tension power lines, including a couple of trucks that crashed into each other because they hit the power line, as well as multiple vehicles that also impacted each other," he said.
The closure could last quite a while as crews work to clear the wreckage and debris from the roadway.
"There was a high-tension power line, one of the big, tall metal ones that was literally crumpled," Copic said.
The storms may now be over for portions of the Midwest, including the Chicago area, but now the focus turns to millions of people in the Northeast who are now under the threat of severe weather on Tuesday.
Original article source: Deadly derecho slams Chicago as storms uproot trees, rip roofs from homes along 500-mile stretch of Midwest
