Fierce storms with wind gusts exceeding 60 miles per hour ripped across Illinois late Friday, leading to a partial building collapse at a theater, a shelter-in-place announcement at O’Hare Airport and damage across numerous communities. NBC 5’s Vi Nguyen reports.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that three tornadoes struck northern Illinois Friday evening as a series of intense storms pummeled the region.
A "tornado debris signature" was observed on radar near Baileyville, an unincorporated community in Ogle County about 28 miles southwest of Rockford. There, several farm structures were destroyed when storms ripped through.
In Caledonia, about 15 miles northeast of Rockford, a trained weather spotter reported a tornado illuminated by lightning, according to the NWS. A "tornado debris signature" was observed from doppler radar, as well. Additionally, an EF-1 tornado struck the village of Machesney Park near Rockford, the NWS said Saturday following an in-person damage survey and collaborating with emergency management officiails.
Information about the path's length and width will be shared in the upcoming days, forecasters said.
The tornadoes were among numerous storms that ripped across the state, resulting in at least four deaths - one from a building collapse in Belvidere and three others from a residential structural collapse in Crawford County.
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