CHICAGO (AP) — Storms with reports of tornadoes blew through Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, including the Chicago area, toppling trees and power poles and cutting electricity to hundreds of thousands of people. A woman in Indiana died after a tree fell onto a home.
Employees at the National Weather Service in suburban Chicago had to take cover Monday night and pass coverage duties to colleagues in northern Michigan for a time. The agency reported wind speeds in the region as high as 75 mph.
“We have a fortified tornado shelter here, luckily, but we did see a pretty nice area of rotation that was heading for the office and then, sure enough, it passed just nearby,” meteorologist Kevin Doom told WLS-TV.
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.
There were some tornado reports, but damaging winds in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana were the main concern, Roger Edwards, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, said. There were numerous wind gusts in the 75 mph to 90 mph range and a report of a 101 mph wind gust in Ogle County, Illinois, Edwards said.
Tree down on Franklin Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Damage on State Blvd St. Marys Ave in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Damage on a State Blvd porch in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024.(Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Tree down on Smith Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Tree uprooted on Smith Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Damage on Burgess St. Marys Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Damage on Burgess St. Marys Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Pole down on Leesburg Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Crews respond to damage on Leesburg in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE) 
Tree down on Northlawn Drive in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after severe storms tore through the area on July 15, 2024.(Credit: NewsNation affiliate WANE)
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.
By 8 a.m., 254,000 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 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.
Large bolts of lightning piercing the sky in Shorewood, Illinois, were caught on camera on July 15, 2024 as storms rolled through the Chicagoland area. (Credit: Lacey A. Cole via NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
Large bolts of lightning piercing the sky in Shorewood, Illinois, were caught on camera on July 15, 2024 as storms rolled through the Chicagoland area. (Credit: Lacey A. Cole via NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
Vehicles make their way through a flooded section of DuSable Lake Shore Drive after a second severe storm raged through Chicago, Monday, July 15, 2024. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) 
A downed tree collapsed in front of a home in Hanover Park, Illinois, on July 15, 2024. (Credit: Hollie Lacey via NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
A massive wall cloud over Naperville, Illinois, as severe storms whip through the Midwest on July 15, 2024. (Credit: Amy Borowski via NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
An uprooted tree was spotted in Frankfort, Illinois, after severe storms whipped through the Chicagoland area on July 15, 2024. (Credit: Maryann Visin via NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
Tree limbs could be seen toppled over in Ukraine Village in Chicago, Illinois, on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
Tree limbs could be seen toppled over in Ukraine Village in Chicago, Illinois, on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
Tree limbs could be seen toppled over in Ukraine Village in Chicago, Illinois, on July 15, 2024. (Credit: NewsNation affiliate WGN) 
A downed tree lies across a driveway after strong winds hit Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott McFetridge) 
Downed trees and power lines litter a street after strong winds hit Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott McFetridge) 
Downed trees and power lines litter a neighborhood after strong winds hit Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott McFetridge)