FAIRDALE, Ill. — Supercell thunderstorms produced a large tornado that touched down Thursday night in northern Illinois, killing one person and injuring seven others in one tiny community as severe weather pummeled the Midwest.
One person was killed in Fairdale, an unincorporated town of about 200 residents, and seven were taken to area hospitals for their injuries, Matthew Knott, division chief for the Rockford Fire Department, said at a news conference early Friday.
Every home in the town was affected, authorities said. DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said in a news release that about 15 to 20 were destroyed.
Authorities said that they were fairly confident there were no more victims among the debris but that they would be working Friday to account for every single resident, including those who may have left town before the storm.
The National Weather Service tweeted about 7 p.m. that a tornado was on the ground in nearby Rochelle and urged residents to seek shelter immediately.
The tornado was part of a storm that tracked across at least five counties, according to the Weather Service.
Radar and reports from trained spotters also show the storms produced "at the very least" one other tornado in northern Illinois.
Three damage survey teams will assess the areas tomorrow to determine the exact location and magnitude of the tornadoes.
The severe weather, the region's first widespread bout, forced the cancellation of more than 850 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and dozens of others at the city's Midway International Airport.
The National Weather Service's "enhanced risk" area stretched from northeast Texas to Michigan, Wisconsin and across the upper Midwest. Forecasters say Philadelphia, Washington and other parts of the Atlantic coast could see the same weather patterns Friday, including Augusta, Ga., where the Masters golf tournament is taking place through the weekend.
A severe thunderstorm that brought high winds and rain through East Texas on Thursday night damaged the roof of a nursing home in Longview, causing its evacuation. No injuries were immediately reported. Thousands were without power in the region.
Earlier Thursday, the Davenport, Iowa, office of the Weather Service said it had received multiple reports of tornadoes in Scott and Clinton counties in the far eastern part of the state. At least one tornado had touched down earlier Thursday evening in rural Donahue, about 15 miles north of Davenport. The Weather Service had no reports of injuries from those storms.
Minor injuries were reported Thursday in central Missouri when storms toppled trees, utility poles and billboards.