Kankakee Tornado, Lake Village Deaths: Deadly Weather Outbreak Leaves Trail of Destruction Across Illinois and Indiana
Two people are dead and communities from Kankakee, Illinois to Lake Village, Indiana are waking up to catastrophic damage Wednesday after a violent severe weather outbreak sent at least four confirmed tornadoes tearing through the Midwest overnight. Tornado watches remain active for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio as the system pushes east.
Kankakee Illinois Takes Direct Hit
A single supercell thunderstorm was responsible for a family of at least four tornadoes tracking across Livingston and Kankakee counties in Illinois, and into Newton, Jasper, and Starke counties in northwestern Indiana.
The Kankakee County Sheriff's Office confirmed a tornado touched down near the Kankakee County Fairgrounds, downing wires and trees throughout the county. Extensive damage was reported in Aroma Park. Route 45/52 was closed from River Road to Exit 308 of Interstate 57 due to downed power lines, storm damage, and fires.
Kankakee Mayor Christopher Curtis confirmed seven people were injured in Illinois. "We did have to excavate a couple people out of homes, but they are safe," Curtis said.
Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey, County Board Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand, and Mayor Curtis filed an emergency declaration with the State of Illinois for disaster assistance.
Lake Village Indiana: Two Dead, Homes Destroyed
The hardest blow landed in Lake Village, Indiana, a Newton County town of roughly 1,800 people.
Officials confirmed two people are dead and several more are dealing with serious injuries following an initial search that began Tuesday night. Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran and Lake Township Fire Chief Rob Churchill confirmed via a Facebook update that the tornado caused significant destruction in the community.
Lori Postma with the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department described the scene plainly: "There is a lot of devastation, there are complete annihilation of homes."
Search teams worked through darkness and debris. "In the dark, in the dead of night, with debris everywhere, primary search was done to best of our abilities," Postma said. "We had probably 250 people here last night doing it. They sectioned it off into different sections like a grid search." As of Wednesday morning, no additional missing persons had been reported.
An estimated 70 downed utility poles were reported across Newton County, with NIPSCO reporting power outages for more than 2,500 customers. Residents displaced by the storm were directed to North Newton High School for support.
Record Hail and Power Outages Compound the Damage
The tornado outbreak was not the only threat. The same supercell that spawned the Kankakee tornado also produced hail of historic proportions.
Hailstones ranging from 3 to locally 5 inches in diameter fell across the region. A 6.0-inch hailstone was measured in Kankakee — potentially a new Illinois state record, surpassing the previous record of 4.75 inches set in Minooka in June 2015. The report is unofficial pending verification.
Jon Robicheaux, a Kankakee resident, described the hail striking his vehicle: "As if I have a bulletproof car and somebody was, like, shooting a machine gun or something like that. That's how hard it was hitting." Both his front and rear windshields were destroyed.
ComEd reported roughly 27,000 customers impacted by the storm at its peak. By 5 a.m. Wednesday, power had been restored to all but approximately 4,000 customers, most of them in Kankakee County.
Tornado Watch Extends Into Wednesday
Tornado watches were in effect Wednesday morning for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, the National Weather Service confirmed.
The American Red Cross of Illinois opened a shelter at Kankakee Community College, offering meals, charging stations, pet kennels, and overnight accommodations.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said his administration and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency were in contact with local officials. "My administration including IEMA are in contact with local officials to offer our full support," Pritzker posted on X.
National Weather Service survey crews are working Wednesday with emergency management officials to assess damage, confirm tornado counts, and determine storm intensity. Results will be posted as surveys are finalized.
