Storm moving east after tornado, injuries in Illinois

Strong storms were moving east early Tuesday after sweeping across parts of northern Illinois, where at least seven people were injured by severe weather that spawned tornadoes, damaging homes and uprooting trees.

Particularly hard hit Monday night was Coal City, a community of approximately 5,000 people about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, where the National Weather Service confirmed a twister touched down.

Michigan also saw stormy weather late Monday, when a storm damaged at least four homes near Millington. In Portland, near Lansing, five people had to be rescued from buildings after a tornado hit.

Authorities were canvassing the area around Coal City to account for all residents, Grundy County Emergency Management director Joe Schroeder told WGN-TV early Tuesday. He said there were at least two confirmed injuries and there could be more.

“We are early in the process of determining the level of damage,” he said.

He noted that at least 30 buildings were affected, many of them in residential areas.

The storms were expected to continue moving east, with parts of northern Indiana and southern Michigan under a tornado watch early Tuesday.

In Illinois, Grundy County Coroner John Callahan said there were no immediate reports of fatalities in Coal City. Fire officials said they believed everyone had been accounted for, but that a secondary search would be done during daylight Tuesday.

Roads in Coal City were blocked by fallen trees and power lines, Lt. David Doerfler of the Coal City Fire Protection District said.

Interstate 55 outside Coal City, which was hit by a tornado less than two years ago, also was shut down for hours due to downed power lines, according to Illinois State Police.

Farther west, high winds caused damage near the Lee County community of Sublette.

Lee County Sheriff John Simonton said firefighters and other emergency workers responded to reports of damage in Woodhaven Association, a private camping resort. There was lots of flooding and many trees were down, including some that fell on homes.

One person there was hospitalized with injuries that were serious but not life-threatening, and four others described as “walking wounded” were either treated on scene or refused treatment, said Sublette Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Schultz. The injury total could still increase, he said.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency was gathering information on the extent of the storm damage.

Commonwealth Edison reported early Tuesday that 14,000 customers were without power as a result of the storm. Ameren was reporting 1,000 customers lost power.