Storms kill one, leave hundreds of thousands without power across Midwest

Severe storms swept through the Midwest on Wednesday and Thursday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, damaging buildings, canceling flights and killing at least one person.

As of Thursday evening, about 11 cities in Illinois and Wisconsin had reported tornadoes, according to CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan. Wind gusts reached 75 miles per hour in Mason City, Illinois, and 70 mph in Morton and Washington, Illinois.

Utility tracker PowerOutage.us reported more than 243,000 customers without power in Illinois as of Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center raised the Chicago area to a level 4 out of 5 on its severe risk scale, the first time the region has seen that level since July 15, 2024. The agency said tornadoes had been confirmed in mostly rural areas southwest of Chicago, with some preliminary reports of damaged buildings in Streator, about 100 miles away.

The city of Streator said a confirmed tornado tore through the area. Mayor Tara Bedei said there were no reported fatalities as of Thursday evening.

Storm chaser Scott Lasker told CBS News Chicago he was in Streator during the outbreak and heard a woman screaming for help about 100 yards away. He ran over and helped free her husband from rubble.

On Wednesday, the weather service received more than a dozen reports of tornadoes across northern Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Illinois. Trees and utility wires were reported down across the region.

In Des Moines, Iowa, a 54-year-old man died at a homeless encampment in a park after being hit by a tree that broke apart and fell during strong storms, police said. He was found critically injured Thursday morning and died at the scene.

Intense downpours, hail and thunderstorms continued Thursday, with the weather service issuing tornado watches or warnings for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. Flights were delayed or halted at airports in Chicago, Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey.

Winery owner Joe Brandonisio of Maple Park, Illinois, said one of his workers tied himself to a water trailer to keep from being blown away. "I saw the debris fly up and spin around. I got down in the basement. I told the staff to get down there," he said.

Shane Tipton of Unionville, Missouri, drove home from his factory job Wednesday afternoon and saw a tornado bearing down as he stepped out of his truck. He hurried into his mobile home to evacuate his 87-year-old father, Jimmie Tipton. They drove away and watched the tornado destroy the home. "Everything's destroyed," his daughter Kylie Rouse told The Associated Press. "If my grandpa would have been in there, there's no way that he would be alive." Rouse started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help the family recover.

Residents of Springfield, Illinois, believe a tornado touched down late Wednesday. Two buildings at the Animal Protective League shelter were heavily damaged, but none of the nearly 150 cats and 28 dogs there were injured, said executive director Deana Corbin. "It pretty much wiped out our shelter facility, took the roofs off both of our buildings," she said. "It's a miracle. We were so blessed to not have any injuries of either people or animals." The community helped place the animals with a local animal control center, veterinarians and residents.

Damage was also reported at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield.

Weather service meteorologist Frank Pereira said the system was moving eastward Thursday, fueled by cool air from Canada clashing with warm, humid air from the South.

Potentially dangerous heat and high humidity arrived Thursday and were expected to continue Friday for a swath of the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency for Thursday and Friday and activated cooling centers and other services. New York City officials urged residents to take precautions, including drinking plenty of water.

Ground stops were issued at various points Wednesday and Thursday at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports and at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. More than 1,000 flights in and out of Chicago were delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware.

Strong winds blew part of the roof off an apartment building in the Chicago area, forcing residents to leave, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Barns collapsed in Wisconsin and buildings were crushed in rural northern Missouri.

Commonwealth Edison Company said the storms downed poles and wires across northern Illinois. The utility said on X that it expected 80% restoration by Saturday, June 13 at 11 p.m.