Doppler radar-confirmed tornado blasts through Chicago's south suburbs
A tornado blasted through Chicago's south suburbs during the midday hours Tuesday.
Confirmed by Doppler radar, the large tornado was believed to be an EF-2 at minimum. The tornado was also rain-wrapped, and thus could not be seen easily.
South suburban communities including Flossmoor, Homewood, Thornton, and Glenwood were affected by the tornado. Soon afterward, the tornado passed in Northwest Indiana.
This was one of at least two tornadoes on the ground as of just before 11 a.m.
In Homewood on Tuesday, gigantic piles of mulch, tree limbs, and branches were already lying around from storms that hit earlier in the summer. More debris had to be removed and put into piles on Tuesday. A tree also came down onto the roof of at least one house.
In south suburban Lansing, Illinois, trees also came down on homes and cars and left roads blocked, and power line also came down.
A familiar scene for Flossmoor residents as downed trees and power lines littered streets following Tuesday's storms.
"This street was a beautiful street because it had such mature trees and now our trees, our mature trees… I don't know. It's like an apocalypse," said resident Cathryn Cline-Casillas.
Just two weeks ago, the south suburban neighborhood dealt with a tornado. Now they're going through the same scenario and yet another power outage for some. One neighbor describes the storms before they made their way to the basement.
"My daughter and I were sitting in the house. Kind of watching it. Always interested to see what's going, but then it got really bad. Wind started blowing and you can hear debris hitting all sides of the house at the same time. I couldn't see more than two feet from outside the window. It got pretty bad. So I'm like, let's get downstairs," said Gilbert Casillas.
Chicago's south suburbs have already been hit hard by storms and tornadoes in recent weeks alone. On Monday, July 27, An EF-1 tornado impacted Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest, Harvey, and Homewood in Illinois, and another EF-1 tornado with peak winds near 110 miles per hour touched down in or near Lansing, Illinois, and appeared to lift just east of the Illinois/Indiana state line in Munster. EF-1.
Those were two of seven tornadoes that touched down that day.
The storm system Tuesday also brought winds that reached 115 mph, with potential for winds as high as 120.
"You can go your whole meteorological career without seeing one thunderstorm this strong, and here we have it," said CBS News Chicago Meteorologist David Yeomans.
Wind gusts peaked at 99 mph in Gary, Indiana; 97 mph in Sugar Grove; 96 mph in Shorewood; and 91 mph in Bradley and Mokena.
In Westville, Indiana, in LaPorte County, a police officer reported he was parking his car when roofing materials, trees, and debris flew all over — and pushed his vehicle at least a foot while in park and in a stopped position.
Over in Crown Point, Indiana, the block of 99th Place was closed following the storms. Homeowners throughout the neighborhood were cleaning up tree damage, including uprooted trees and broken limbs that fell onto their homes and fence lines.
Storms left some people trapped at work. Some even had to hide in bathrooms until the storms blew over.
"The next thing you know, like, not even five seconds later, just wind. Literally about to blow our door open. We were holding it shut and we had to padlock it. It's crazy," said Hailey Mogan. "I don't even know if I'm gonna get home because they're saying everywhere around here is closed. Closed, can't get through."
Also in Northwest Indiana, Interstate 65 was closed at I-94 due to downed power lines on Tuesday afternoon, Indiana State Police said.
