On Monday, storms that produced numerous tornadoes swept over the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, bringing down trees and power lines and knocking off electricity to more than 460,000 customers and businesses. Chicago was among the cities that were affected.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado struck Des Moines, Iowa, during the storms that blew across the area on Monday afternoon and continued into the night. When the Des Moines police department arrived, they were responding to calls about utility poles that seemed to have broken in half.
After that, the storms continued eastward into northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, which was confronted with repeated tornado warnings, wind, and heavy rain on multiple occasions. As the line of storms swept across the city, the National Weather Service reported that multiple tornadoes occurred along the path of the severe weather.
Based on the information provided by poweroutage.us, there were approximately 390,000 people in northern Illinois who were left without power.
Stormy Night Ahead; Heavy Rain to Subside, More Expected Later This Week
The National Weather Service in Chicago needed to take cover for some time, and they later reported that the city had sustained significant damage. Within the Chicago metropolitan area, a flash flood warning was also issued until early Tuesday morning. As the rain continued to fall steadily throughout the night on Monday, flooding was anticipated in creeks, streams, drainage ditches, streets, and underpasses.
Later on Monday night, storms moved into Indiana and Michigan, which resulted in further warnings being issued, including multiple tornado warnings in Indiana.