Weather today: Kankakee Illinois tornado leaves thousands without power - check your area status

Powerful storms tore through parts of Illinois and Indiana Tuesday night, leaving behind a trail of destruction and widespread power outages. Communities across Kankakee County and northwest Indiana woke up Wednesday dealing with damaged homes, fallen power lines and emergency crews working through the night.

Authorities say thousands of residents were left without electricity as the storms produced destructive hail and possible tornadoes. Officials are now assessing the damage while restoration and cleanup efforts continue across the region, as per reports by Fox32 Chicago and NBC5Chicago.

What damage did the storms leave behind in Kankakee County?

The severe weather that moved through the region Tuesday night caused significant destruction across parts of Kankakee County. Homes and buildings were left heavily damaged after a reported tornado ripped through areas near the Chicago region.

Debris covered roads while power lines and trees were knocked down during the storm. Several schools were closed and at least seven people were injured as emergency crews began assessing the situation late Tuesday night.

Residents described the terrifying moments when the storm hit, as per reports by Fox32 Chicago and NBC5Chicago.

"It sounded like bowling balls," one resident in Kankakee County described. "We thought it was hail. It was literally a freight train. We stepped outside and saw our neighbor's garage, gone. Our neighbors house, gone. Both our cars, our living room, our shed -- gone," as quoted in a report by NBC5 Chicago.

Officials said homes and buildings were reduced to rubble in some locations as the storm pushed through the area.

Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis said the tornado moved through the southwest portion of the city and caused heavy damage to businesses and industrial buildings along the Route 45/52 corridor.

According to Curtis, the severe weather also "severed" power lines and damaged several homes in incorporated areas of Kankakee County. Roads were closed while crews worked to clear debris and assess the damage.

A Red Cross shelter was also activated to assist residents who were displaced by the storm.

ALSO READ: Nancy Guthrie mystery: FBI reviews 6 theories as chilling new lead emerges

How widespread were the power outages across Illinois and Indiana?

The storms left thousands of residents without electricity across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Utility provider ComEd reported 64 outages across northern Illinois early Wednesday morning, affecting around 4,270 customers. Most of those outages were concentrated in Kankakee County, where 4,153 customers were without power. That represents roughly eight percent of the county’s nearly 50,600 ComEd customers.

Across the state line in northwest Indiana, NIPSCO reported 5,513 customers without electricity after the storms moved through.

The largest outage numbers were recorded in Lake Village, where 1,574 customers lost power. Gary reported 790 outages, while another 780 customers were without electricity in DeMotte, as per a report by Fox35Chicago.

Power restoration efforts were underway as crews worked to repair damage to the electrical system.

ALSO READ: New development in Nancy Guthrie case as searchers retrieve barrel from Phoenix canal after body found

Could the storm system have produced multiple tornadoes?

Meteorologists say the destructive weather was likely produced by a powerful supercell storm that moved through Illinois before crossing into Indiana.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm began near Pontiac, Illinois before traveling through Kankakee County and continuing into northwest Indiana toward Knox.

Forecasters believe the system may have produced at least four tornadoes along its path. Possible touchdown areas include near Pontiac and south of Kankakee in Illinois, along with Lake Village and Wheatfield in Indiana.

The same storm also brought massive hail across the region. Hailstones measuring between two and four inches in diameter were reported along a corridor stretching from Pontiac to the Illinois-Indiana state line.

A trained weather spotter in Kankakee reported a hailstone measuring six inches in diameter. If verified, it could become a new Illinois state record.

The storm caused particularly severe damage in Lake Village, Indiana, where authorities confirmed a tornado touched down in Newton County.

Search and rescue crews remained on scene early Wednesday morning. During an overnight press conference, officials described the destruction in stark terms.

"Complete annihilation of homes right now," the sheriff's office said during the update, warning volunteers to stay home. "It's too dangerous. It's too dark."

Authorities later confirmed that two people were killed in the storm in Newton County, while several others were injured.

Closer to Chicago, the storm system also caused ground stops at area airports as lightning and thunderstorms moved across the region.

Forecasters said thunderstorms were expected to continue through early Wednesday before conditions shifted to rain and snow showers later in the day.

FAQs

How many customers lost power in Kankakee County?
More than 4,100 customers in Kankakee County were without electricity following the storms.

Were there fatalities from the storms?
Officials confirmed two deaths in Newton County, Indiana after a tornado touched down.