Storms with heavy rains and tornadoes struck Illinois, overtopping a dam in the southern part of the state on Tuesday and prompting hundreds to evacuate.
A dam near Nashville, Illinois, was overtopped with water, sending first responders to the flooded area to ensure everyone’s safety. There were no injuries reported in the community of 3,000 southeast of St. Louis, although crews were dispatched to assist a woman with water up to her waist, said Alex Haglund, a spokesperson for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency.
Officials had earlier noted that approximately 300 people were in the evacuation zone near the Nashville City Reservoir.
“Secondary Dam Failure, area has been overtopped with flood waters, please evacuate if you are in the below shaded area!” read a post from the Washington County Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday morning.
While the rest of the town was not in immediate danger from the dam break, flash flooding on roads raised concerns about potential water rescues.
“Those are incredibly dangerous right now,” Haglund said. A shelter was established at a church.
The National Weather Service reported 5-7 inches of rain fell over an eight-hour period, with more heavy rain in the forecast. An 11-mile stretch of Interstate 64 near Nashville was closed due to flooding.
Elsewhere in Illinois, Monday’s rare storm event caused power outages for hundreds of thousands in the Chicago area and forced weather forecasters to evacuate for safety. A woman in Indiana died after a tree fell on a home.
As the storms moved through the Chicago area, employees at a suburban National Weather Service office handed over coverage duties to a northern Michigan post for five minutes. The agency reported wind speeds in the region reaching up to 75 mph (120 kph).
“We had an area of rotation,” meteorologist Zachary Yack said, referring to the extreme rotating wall clouds. “It developed right near our office here in Romeoville, Illinois. … We took cover. We have a storm shelter here.”
A 44-year-old woman died in Cedar Lake, Indiana, located at the southern edges of the Chicago area, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.
The NWS reported “dozens of circulations” with the storms sparking “multiple tornadoes at the same time” on Monday evening.
Six survey teams were dispatched across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana on Tuesday to assess the damage.
“So far we have 29 different paths of potential damage that we will be investigating today and in the coming days to identify potential tornado tracks,” the NWS posted on X Tuesday morning, warning that “due to the large number of areas of interest,” it may take days to complete their efforts.
Maps indicated the Chicago area was marked with potential paths of damage.
By 10:30 a.m., 233,000 customers were without power in Illinois, a significant reduction from earlier counts, officials reported.
The Chicago Fire Department indicated on social media that there was only one serious injury in the city, a person hurt when a tree fell on a car.
In Joliet, many roads were blocked by trees, authorities said.
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport experienced a ground stop, grounding all departures headed for the airport on Monday. Train services on multiple Metra lines were halted “due to high wind warnings.”
As of Tuesday morning, O’Hare reported 81 flight cancellations and Midway International Airport reported eight cancellations.