Authorities say a child and two adults were missing after they were swept away in a drainage ditch in Milwaukee following severe thunderstorms that brought heavy rains and damaging winds to a wide swath of the Midwest and parts of the South
In Illinois, a supercell thunderstorm with winds in excess of 80 mph toppled trees and damaged power lines Monday evening as it left a trail of damage across the Chicago area and into northwestern Indiana, the National Weather Service said. Tens of thousands were without power.
Numerous reports of wind damage were reported along the storm’s path, with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport recording an 84 mph wind gust, the weather service said. Crews planned to assess the storm damage Tuesday to determine if any tornadoes touched down. In Bellwood in Chicago’s west suburbs, village officials said winds stripped the roof off an apartment building, injuring a young woman who was hospitalized after being hit by falling debris but was expected to be fine.
"We just heard people screaming that the roof was off, get out, get out," resident Larhonda Neal toldIn northwestern Indiana, the weather service reported storm damage in Ogden Dunes and said hail 1.5 inches in diameter pummeled the Lake County town of New Chicago on Monday night. In northeastern Indiana, the weather service said a 98 mph wind gust was recorded at Fort Wayne International Airport, the strongest wind the airport has ever recorded, eclipsing the previous record of a 91 mph gust recorded on June 30, 2012.