CHICAGO (AP) — Thunderstorms with heavy rains and tornadoes rattled the Chicago area and elsewhere in the Midwest, overtopping a dam Tuesday in southern Illinois, cutting power to hundreds of thousands, and even sending weather forecasters scrambling for safety. A woman in Indiana died after a tree fell onto a home.
Water overtopped a dam near Nashville, Illinois, sending first responders to the flooded area to make sure everyone got out safely, officials said. There were no reports of injuries in the community of 3,000 southeast of St. Louis, but crews were sent to a home where a woman reported water up to her waist, said Alex Haglund, a spokesperson for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency.
Officials had earlier said about 300 people were in the evacuation zone near the Nashville City Reservoir. The rest of the town was not in imminent danger of flooding from the dam break, but flash flooding on roads created worries about water rescues.
“Those are incredibly dangerous right now,” Haglund said. A shelter was set up at a church.
The National Weather Service said 5-7 inches (12.7-27.8 centimeters) of rain fell over an eight-hour period. Additional heavy rain was in the forecast. An 11-mile stretch of Interstate 64 in the Nashville area was closed because of flooding.
As the storms swept through the Chicago area late Monday, employees at a suburban National Weather Service office had to pass coverage duties to a northern Michigan post for five minutes. The agency reported wind speeds in the region as high as 75 mph (120 kph).
“We did have an area of rotation,” meteorologist Zachary Yack said, referring to extreme rotating wall clouds. “And it kind of developed right near our office here in Romeoville, Illinois. ... We went and took cover. We have a storm shelter here.”
A 44-year-old woman died in Cedar Lake, Indiana, in the southern fringes of the Chicago area, the Lake County coroner's office said.
The weather service confirmed a tornado hit Des Moines, Iowa, as storms rolled through Monday afternoon and into the night. Police responded to calls about utility poles that snapped in two.
The storms then moved east into northern Illinois and the Chicago area, which saw tornado warnings and drenching rain. Tornadoes were reported along the line of storms that moved through the city, according to the weather service, though staff were still trying to confirm them Tuesday.
Carol Gillette said she heard a crash that sounded “like a bomb” as trees smashed cars and houses in Oswego, Illinois.
“I haven’t called the insurance yet. I don’t know where to start," Gillette told WBBM-TV. "This is the first time I’ve ever been through this. I’m just happy we are all alive.”
By 10:30 a.m., 233,000 customers lacked power in Illinois, though the number was much higher hours earlier, according to PowerOutage.us.
The Chicago Fire Department said on the social media site X that there was only one serious injury in the nation's third-largest city, a person who was hurt when a tree fell on a car.
In Joliet, Illinois, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, authorities said many roads were blocked by trees.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport reported 81 flight cancellations as of Tuesday morning, and Midway International Airport reported eight cancellations.
The storms also cut power to thousands in Ohio and Pennsylvania and caused damage to property, trees and power lines. No injuries were reported.
The Associated Press
