Dangerous weather, tornadoes tear up US Midwest

CHICAGO – Severe storms and violent tornadoes killed at least one person as they battered the US Midwest Sunday, with powerful twisters laying great waste in central Illinois.

At least one person was killed near the city of Washington in the first known fatality from the storms, Patti Thompson of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency told CNN.

At least 37 people were being treated at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois, seven of them with “severe” injuries, local NBC television affiliate News 25 reported.

The dangerous weather also caused the National Football League to suspend a game in Chicago partway through, asking fans and players to take cover in the stadium. The game resumed almost two hours later.

The powerful winds overturned cars, uprooted large trees and snapped power lines.

The devastating damage saw homes reduced to piles of rubble in central Illinois. Other homes had their roofs and siding blown off, leaving only the wooden frame and concrete foundation. The windows were blown out of some shops.

“Absolute destruction,” WMBD31 news reporter Alexandra Sutter wrote on Twitter in describing the scene.

Sutter later tweeted, after speaking with the mayor of the storm-hit town of Washington: “I asked what we can report to help. He said only ‘please pray.'”

The CBS television affiliate for Central Illinois where she works said that its studio, which also hosts the local Fox affiliate, lost signal after a power hit to its transmitter.

A photo posted on the station’s Facebook page showed someone holding a tennis ball-sized piece of hail.

“Pay attention to all weather alerts and stay home and inside if possible,” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn warned residents, adding that the severe weather was “very serious.”

Local news reported two tornadoes wreaking havoc in Washington and the town of Pekin, with an apartment complex and several homes damaged or destroyed.

“We are setting up shelters in Washington and have water and hot coffee,” the local Red Cross chapter said on its Twitter feed.

The National Weather Service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” for parts of the central United States, with tornado watches in seven states from Missouri to Michigan.

“Several rapidly-moving, intense tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, large hail events and damaging winds are expected in these watch areas,” the US weather service said.

“A high or moderate risk of severe weather is in effect for most of the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley,” it added.

“Elsewhere, severe storms are also possible from parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, northeastward across much of the Appalachians to the lower Great Lakes and southern New England.”

Flights at Chicago’s international airport were delayed an average of nearly three hours, the Federal Aviation Administration said on its website, while flights were grounded at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens football teams were recalled to their lockers rooms in Chicago with less than five minutes remaining in the first quarter due to the severe weather.

The delay lasted just under two hours, with the game resuming at 2:25 pm (2025 GMT).