An elderly man and woman in Lake Village, Indiana, died after a tornado hit the rural community around an hour south of Chicago, according to Newton County authorities. The tornado was spawned during the afternoon and evening of March 10 when several intense supercell thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.
The tornado ravaged through about 3.5 miles of the town. When first responders made an early assessment overnight, they found "total devastation," fire department chief Rob Churchill said. More than 250 first responders from neighbouring counties rushed into Lake Village late Tuesday night to immediately begin rescue efforts. Four firefighters had their own homes severely damaged.
One supercell was responsible for at least four tornadoes across Livingston and Kankakee counties in Illinois, and Newton, Jasper, and Starke counties in northwestern Indiana. The storm system produced exceptional hail as well. The National Weather Service said the largest hailstone produced was six inches in diameter, which fell in Kankakee and may be a state record for Illinois.
A large tornado passed through the Kankakee suburb of Aroma Park, causing significant damage, before crossing into Indiana and striking Lake Village and Roselawn, causing significant damage and several injuries. Injuries and widespread damage were reported in other parts of Indiana and Illinois, according to officials. In Kankakee County, nine people had minor injuries but there have been no deaths or people reported missing, according to Kankakee County Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand.
National Weather Service survey crews are working with emergency management officials to look at damage to determine the strength of the tornadoes and to confirm the total number of tornadoes that occurred, with survey results to be posted as they are finalised. The exact scope of damage across the region remains under assessment. More than 12,000 energy customers were without power across the Midwest and 23,000 across the Great Lakes region on Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
The tornado struck Lake Village around 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday evening. Authorities have emphasised the extraordinary nature of the damage. Indiana State Police is assisting with extra patrols, and North Newton Jr/Sr High School is serving as an emergency shelter. "We will be working feverishly to bring our little town back to where it once was," said Lori Postma, public information officer with the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department. "We are a very strong community, and we will be just fine."
Over 90 million people from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic could experience severe storms on Wednesday. The broader weather threat continues to develop across the central United States as additional storm systems move through the region.