Woman dies after tree falls on Northwest Indiana home during severe storms
CHICAGO (CBS) — A woman was killed after a tree fell on a home during severe storms near Cedar Lake, Indiana, Monday night.
The National Weather Service reported at least ten tornadoes on the ground Monday night as dangerous storms hit the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana for a second night.
Cedar Lake Police Chief William Fisher said police and firefighters responded to the home at 8902 W. 141st Lane, in a heavily wooded area, around 10 p.m. after receiving a 911 call that a person was injured when a large tree fell on the home.
Cedar Lake Fire Chief Todd Wilkening said the fallen tree was about 70 feet tall and 20 inches long.
Fisher said wind gusts were blowing at nearly 80 mph at the time. When police and firefighters arrived, they found the tree had punctured the roof of the house and pinned a 44-year-old woman to the bed in the master bedroom. She was later pronounced dead.
According to the Lake County Coroner's Office, the victim was identified as 44-year-old Laura Nagel. Her manner of death was listed in connection with the severe storm damage.
Two other people, an adult and a child, were in the home when the tree fell but were not injured. Fisher said that due to the damage to the home, it took several hours to lift the tree from the home and recover Nagel's body.
"I'm thinking of the family right now. Our condolences to the family and to her loved ones. This is a very tragic incident in Cedar Lake,"
Neighbors told CBS News Chicago they watched the tree fall on the house and described the sound as "terrifying."
Meanwhile, officials in Cedar Lake responded to multiple calls about trees and power lines knocked down in the storm, as well as a number of structure fires. According to Fisher and Wilkening, the roof of a local business was also torn off in the storm.
Chicago area storm damage
Tree damage was also widespread throughout the Chicago area and beyond. The storm snapped or uprooted trees with a trunk diameter of two to three feet.
The Chicago Fire Department reported numerous trees and power lines down around the city, several areas without power, and some transformers burning and power lines broken. The CFD warned that voltage from live power lines may be charging the wet ground—causing a shock risk.
Three nights of storms
Monday was the third night of storms in the Chicago area and by far the worst. But the severe weather that hit hard Sunday night was no joke either.
The NWS confirmed three tornadoes also touched down in the Chicago area Sunday night—two on the city's South Side and one in Elburn. They all had an EF rating of 0.