Tornado Decimates Campground In Far West Suburban Sublette
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Only a few hundred people live in the tiny hamlet of Sublette, about 100 miles west of Chicago, but it's a good bet each and every one of them felt the sting of Monday's storms, after a tornado hit the village.
Sublette is home to Woodhaven Lakes, the world's largest private recreational camping resort, and all 1,800 acres sustained significant damage.
Campers were flipped over onto their sides, trees were ripped from the ground, and
One camper who got caught in the middle of the storm talked about the nightmare.
"Once the sirens came on, we took off for the comfort station to take cover," Pete Carr said. "I had to run and help somebody. They had furniture on top of them. Their trailer was totally destroyed."
Carr said some trailers ended on top of one another.
At least one house in Sublette was pushed off its foundation, and at least one person was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition. At least four others were injured, and treated on the scene.
Gov. Bruce Rauner said an 80-member search and rescue team has been deployed to assist in the search for anyone who might have been trapped under the rubble in Woodhaven Lakes. The group will bring trained search canines.
"One of our concerns is, over in the campground, many folks from a long ways away are potentially there, so there would be no report that someone was missing. No one would know. That's the reason we're so anxious to make sure that every inch over there is searched," Rauner said.
Late Tuesday night, authorities were performing secondary searches of all of the camp sites.
"I got my dog and I ran into the bath house and within probably 15 minutes we all jammed in there and boom…come out and all this devastation had happened," said Deb Zmudka.
She's had property there for decades.
"It's like you see on TV and never think you're ever going to live it and here it is," Zmudka said.
Maria Aquino still hasn't seen her property.
"I haven't slept all night," she said. "I been crying because I want to know what's going on with my place but they don't let us in. They don't tell us nothing."
Officials expect to have a better assessment of the damage on Wednesday.
CBS 2'a Brad Edwards talked with campers there about the loss.
Woodhaven Lakes said all of its facilities would be closed until further notice, as emergency personnel assess the damage.
"No one will be allowed to access property except for emergency vehicles and authorized emergency personnel. Please do not come out to Woodhaven expecting to get on property," the association wrote in a Facebook post.