A tornado touched down near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, prompting passengers to take shelter and disrupting hundreds of flights. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
A confirmed tornado was on the ground around 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Chicago.
“This tornado has been touching the ground intermittently so far and is moving east. There are additional circulations along the line south of O’Hare. Seek shelter if in the warned area," it said.
By 8 p.m. the weather service said the Chicago forecast area was “currently tornado warning free." The storm moved into Michigan before passing through the state and into Canada early Thursday. Tornado watches that were in effect for parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio all expired.
Video from TV stations showed hundreds of people taking shelter in an O’Hare concourse. Some 173 flights departing the airport were canceled and more than 500 were delayed, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.
Kevin Bargnes, director of communications for O’Hare and Chicago Midway International Airport, said Wednesday night that no damage was reported at either airport.
The National Weather Service had issued two tornado warnings for Chicago Wednesday evening. Tornado sirens sounded warning people to find shelter.
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Lynn Becker, a longtime Chicago resident, posted video to Twitter with tornado sirens blaring across the city’s iconic skyline.
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“I’m in a 60 story apartment building so my options are somewhat limited,” he said. “We have to, I assume, go into the core of the building.”
NBC Chicago reported warehouses were damaged near one of the runways at O'Hare.
More than 10,000 customers lost power in the region, according to poweroutage.us.
In Hodgkins, southwest of Chicago, a tornado left a trail of damage and debris on the north end of town, NBC Chicago reports.
"Everything was blowing everywhere," a resident told the station. "It started coming from one direction and then it was blowing all around. There was no way to protect yourself."
Earlier Wednesday, the weather service's Storm Prediction Center had said there was an enhanced risk for severe weather, including tornadoes in northern Illinois, including Chicago. Throughout the evening, the service confirmed multiple tornadoes touched down across the Chicago area.
Over the years many tornadoes have struck in the Chicago metropolitan area, and several have hit within the city limits of Chicago, according to the National Weather Service. Between 1855 and 2021, the weather service recorded 97 significant tornadoes in the Chicago metro area.
The deadliest formed in Palos Hills in Cook County on April 21, 1967. The twister traveled 16 miles (26 kilometers) through Oak Lawn and the south side of Chicago, killing 33 people, injuring 500 and causing more than $50 million in damage, according to the weather service.
