Residents in tornado-ravaged areas in Illinois and Indiana are grappling with damage to their homes and neighborhoods after a strong line of storms barreled through communities south of Chicago. Cleanup efforts were underway Friday and officials were assessing the damage. Dozens of buildings were damaged and scores of trees and power lines were downed. Several hundred thousand customers are without power and dozens of flights at Chicago airports have been canceled or delayed. There were no reports of any deaths from Thursday's storms, although several people were treated for minor injuries. Tornado damage was reported in Merrillville and Hebron, Indiana, as well as in Streator, Illinois.
At least three tornadoes have battered communities outside Chicago, leveling homes and ripping down trees and power poles. Storms have also grounded flights and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands across the Midwest and Northeast on Thursday. The large column of air swept through Merrillville, Indiana, a town about 33 miles southeast of Chicago. Meanwhile, the nearby manufacturing and farm city of Streator, Illinois, has set up a family reunification center for displaced residents in its city hall as officials took stock of the major damage. The National Weather Service says tornado warnings were also in place in Chicago and in parts of Indiana and Michigan.
U.S. meteorologists say an El Nino has formed. That's the natural warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather around the globe. It is likely to a major factor in extreme and deadly weather across the planet for the next year or so. The one announced Thursday is expected to rival the record and costly 1997-1998 El Nino. It is usually strongest in the wintertime, and it makes it incredibly likely that 2027 will set a record for the hottest year globally. The United Nations secretary-general says El Niño conditions will pour fuel on the fire of a warming world.
An extreme weather-boosting El Nino has formed and is likely to be historically strong, meteorologists say.