Death toll mounts as tornadoes sweep through the Midwest

METROPOLIS, Ill. (AP) -- The death toll is likely to rise in Illinois as emergency management officials continue to receive reports from the field about the casualties and damage caused by a massive storm system that wreaked havoc across the state.

Dozens of tornadoes and intense thunderstorms swept across portions of the Midwest today. They caused extensive damage in several Illinois communities, killing at least five people, injuring dozens more and prompting officials at Chicago's Soldier Field to evacuate the stands and delay the Bears game.

In southern Illinois, the Washington County coroner says an elderly man and his sister were killed when a tornado hit their home around noon in the rural community of New Minden. The state's Emergency Management Agency says a third person died in the central Illinois community of Washington and two others perished in Massac county in the far southern part of the state.

With communications difficult and many roads impassable, it remains unclear how many people were killed or hurt by the string of tornadoes.