Tornadoes Cause Damage in Streator and Northwest Indiana Area

CHICAGO (WLS) — Cleanup efforts are underway across the Chicago region after powerful thunderstorms produced at least two confirmed tornadoes on Thursday.

The National Weather Service is expected to send survey teams Friday to assess storm damage in Streator, Naperville, Bartlett and Northwest Indiana. Tornadoes have already been confirmed in Streator and Northwest Indiana, and crews will examine the affected areas to determine the storms’ strength.

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The severe weather also left widespread power outages throughout the area. As of early Friday, ComEd reported that more than 170,000 customers were without electricity.

In Northwest Indiana, NIPSCO said outages had affected more than 74,000 customers.

SEE ALSO: Track power outages in your area with the ABC7 Chicago Power Outage Tracker

In Streator, a tornado tore through the southern part of the city, leaving some homes completely destroyed.

Local officials have declared a state of emergency in the community, which has a population of about 12,000.

Some people said that they hid in bathrooms and basements as they heard parts of their home crumble.

“I’ll tell you what, it was the scariest things I’ve witnessed,” Streator resident Clint Stevens said. “I mean, being this close to me and actually watching the funnel cloud. It, It was definitely scary.”

So far the mayor said there have been no reported deaths but we are still waiting to learn about the extent of injuries people may have suffered.

One man was found in a pile of rubble at his home near Saratoga Lane and Sunbury Drive as a camera caught the moment first responders arrived to help.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church for people in need of assistance.

In Northwest Indiana, there’s a shelter open in Hobart to support people impacted by the storm.

Crews were seen working overnight to clear out some of the downed trees near third Street and Lake Park Avenue.

The shelter, for people who need it, is at the police complex gym on 704 east Fourth street in Hobart.

Just west of Hobart, in the Dyer, Saint John, Indiana area, more trees were uprooted. and in some cases, sewage pipes and electrical lines were also pulled up.

One man who says he insisted he and his wife head into the basement, because the storm was coming.

“I saw the clouds whipping around and we went downstairs and the next thing you know I heard a big thought… I came upstairs… Saw the tree on the back on the house on my patio,” resident Patrick Winter said.

Winter said a statue of the Virgin Mary, kind of hidden behind a tree there protected his house just as she has done since he was a kid on the South Side of Chicago.

In Merrillville, video shows several homes destroyed, with missing roofs and walls.

There are also many downed trees, blocking roads and driveways.

The storm damaged the roof and windows at Andrean High School. Power lines were knocked down and into the street. Operations at the school have been canceled for the foreseeable future, officials said.

According to town officials, multiple agencies from as far as Illinois are assisting as first responders search and assess the damage.

Crews are also working to clear roads.

Officials want to remind the community to stay clear of any fallen utility lines or damaged utility poles.

In Chicago in the West Lawn neighborhood,

This is near 62nd and Lawndale in the West Lawn neighborhood.

It appears part of the roof of the Saint Nicholas of Tolentine School near 62nd Street and Lawndale Avenue may have been torn off.

Radar clocking winds of up to 100 miles-an-hour on the city’s South Side Thursday night

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