UPDATE: Tornado, Damage Reported In Western Illinois
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A powerful tornado ripped through southwest suburban Coal City on Monday, leaving massive path of destruction in its path. Residents have been picking up the pieces ever since, and on Friday they were getting much needed help.
It has been a tense 24 hours in tornado-ravaged Coal City, with residents bracing for another onslaught of rain Wednesday night and early Thursday. There were heavy downpours overnight, but not nearly as much as had been expected, allowing residents to breathe a small sigh of relief Thursday morning.
It's a race against Mother Nature in Coal City as residents there try to clean up as much tornado damage as possible before severe weather rolls in once again.
The tornado that tore through the town of Coal City on Monday evening was the strongest such storm to hit the Chicago metro area in 25 years.
With lots of cleanup ahead in Coal City, after Monday night's tornado, a special volunteer effort has been planned for Friday.
More bad weather on Wednesday could hamper recovery efforts in Coal City, which was hit by an EF-3 tornado Monday night. It was the most powerful tornado to hit the Chicago metropolitan area in nearly 25 years.
One of Monday night's tornadoes narrowly missed Exelon Nuclear's Braidwood plant. But the utility insists no one was endangered.
Governor Bruce Rauner toured the damage in tornado-ravaged Coal City first from the air and then on the ground, reports CBS 2's Derrick Blakley.
Survey teams with the National Weather Service have confirmed at least two tornados touched down Monday night, when powerful damaging storms swept through the western and southwestern suburbs.
For the second time in 19 months, southwest suburban Coal City was digging out from the rubble, after a powerful tornado tore roofs of houses, and reduced many other buildings to kindling.
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.
A tornado ripped through Coal City, Illinois, on Monday. It was the second time in less than two years that the small town was devastated by a tornado.
Al Steinz was driving to Troy Grove, Illinois, when he spotted a tornado to the north, near Sublette.
National Weather Service crews were headed out Tuesday to try to confirm reports of up to six tornados touching down Monday in Grundy, LaSalle, Lee, and Will counties, including three already confirmed in Ottawa, Sublette, and Coal City.
The tornado reportedly touched down in the community of Sublette shortly after 8 p.m.
The congressional delegation for Illinois is asking President Barack Obama to make a disaster declaration allowing small businesses to get loans in recovery from severe storms and tornadoes in northern Illinois in April.
A tornado was the likely cause of the storm damage on Tuesday in south suburban Summit.
DeKalb County officials have said they're committed to making sure everyone who wants to rebuild after last month's tornado in the small town of Fairdale can clear any legal hurdles that might be in their way.
Fairdale residents whose homes were lost or severely damaged in last month's tornado have been learning rebuilding is not going to be so easy.
This weekend marks one month since a deadly tornado devastated the small town of Fairdale, and while cleanup efforts continue, most volunteers who showed up in the wake of the storm have moved on.
CBS 2 has hundreds of Weather Watchers across the Chicago area and many of them are real weather enthusiasts.
CBS 2's Jeremy Ross reports from northern Illinois, which was hit by tornadoes two weeks ago.
Richard Burtch is accused of stealing six to seven pickup loads worth of supplies, from tarps and tubs, to wheelbarrows and rakes, DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said.
In the face of disaster, a Chicago boy's acts of kindness continue to grow. Samuel Love is organizing another toy drive, this time for the victims of last week's deadly tornadoes.
After every home win this season, students who were at the game can get a free lunch.
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A funeral service on Saturday morning at Word Works Believers Church on South Halsted.
Boyle, 65, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Sierra Jamison.
The 2025 Senior Gala was held at the downtown Marriott Marquis on Saturday.
With Chicago facing a projected deficit of more than $1 billion in 2026, why does the city's salary database show at least a dozen aldermanic aides with salaries close to $200,000? The database is wrong, but staffers are getting hefty bonuses.
A ruling striking down emergency levies could force the federal government to return most of the tariff revenue it has collected this year, according to Penn Wharton.
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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Friday released 19 photos from a trove of images obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.
Indiana state police said "numerous" state lawmakers had faced bomb threats and been the subject of swatting hoaxes amid the push for redistricting.
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The U.S. stopped minting pennies this week, and some groups have issued a warning about the headaches that can create for some businesses and consumers.
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The Food and Drug Administration is warning about additional cookware brands that could be leaching lead into your food.
An investigation into the case of a Michigan man who contracted rabies after an organ transplant provided more details on the infection's origin.
The newest measles vaccination numbers released by Chicago Public Schools shows immunizations are finally moving in the right direction.
Two pregnant Black women recently faced alarming neglect at hospitals in Indiana and Texas, highlighting racial disparities in maternal care.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed a bill aimed at protecting vaccine access in Illinois.
Roseland Community Hospital on Monday celebrated the opening of a new sickle cell treatment clinic.
A Culver's is coming to Chicago's South Loop, a real estate broker has confirmed.
A new vision for passenger rail is on track in southeastern Wisconsin. The MARK Passenger Rail Commission held its inaugural meeting on December 5, 2025, at Racine City Hall.
U.S. Steel says it'll resume making steel slabs at its Granite City Works plant in Illinois amid strengthening demand.
Traffic at O'Hare International Airport is growing faster than expected, and this has Chicago city leaders wanting to make big changes to future construction plans at the airport.
Small Business Saturday was disrupted by the winter storm for many business owners in Chicago, but in the Rogers Park neighborhood, a group of business owners came together to draw customers.
Quintanilla is survived by his son, his daughter Suzette and his wife Marcella, who he wed in 1963.
Paramount Skydance's $30 per share offer comes just days after Netflix agreed to buy parts of Warner Bros. in a deal valued at nearly $83 billion.
The nominations for the 2026 Golden Globes have been announced. Here are the nominees.
Landon Wallace, better known as Power 92 radio and Chicago Bulls mixer DJ Commando, died last week.
Thirty-five years after throngs headed to a theater near them to see "Home Alone," you can have a lovely cheese pizza, just for you, like Macaulay Culkin's Kevin McCallister character did.
The food is completely paid for by Holtmann, who will even be the one who hands it out, if there's time between practices.
The first all-girls Muslim school in the United States was formed in Bridgeview, Illinois.
On Thursday, a jury found Lawrence Boyle, 65, guilty on two counts of first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Sierra Jamison back on Sept. 18, 2023, in Grand Crossing.
Crews worked for nearly two hours before pulling him from the wreckage.
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By the midday hours on Sunday, wind chills will range between 0 degrees and 10 degrees below.
Decades later, the graduates of the Asqa School are living proof of a family's promise kept.
A male suspect dressed in black escaped the engineering building after the shooting, police said. The suspect is still at large.
A funeral service on Saturday morning at Word Works Believers Church on South Halsted.
With Chicago facing a projected deficit of more than $1 billion in 2026, why does the city's salary database show at least a dozen aldermanic aides with salaries close to $200,000? The database is wrong, but staffers are getting hefty bonuses.
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The shooting occurred in a first-floor classroom of a school engineering building during final exams, authorities said. The gunman remains at large.
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A federal appeals court has blocked the immediate release of hundreds of immigrants detained during a Chicago-area immigration crackdown.
