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Major storms whipped up tornadoes that killed at least two people in northwest Indiana and demolished buildings in and around Kankakee, Illinois, as another round of rain, hail and strong winds moved through the region Wednesday, officials said.
In Lake Village, the Newton County Coroner’s office said Edward L. Kozlowski, 89, and his wife, Arlene Kozlowski, 84, were killed when a tornado struck their home. The coroner’s office said the couple appeared to have been killed by blunt force trauma, and an autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
The deaths left the couple’s family with four children, seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren, according to a statement from their son-in-law, Steve Rehfeldt. Rehfeldt described Edward Kozlowski and Arlene Kozlowski as “wonderful, just really wonderful human beings,” and said “tough old guy and sweet old lady.”
In Lake Village, crews rescued people who were trapped in damaged homes, and Newton County officials said at least 70 utility poles were knocked down. Sheriff Shannon Cothran urged residents not to come to the area during the immediate aftermath, saying in a video shot in front of a destroyed home: “Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now.”
Officials said the tornado injured fewer than 10 people in Lake Village. Cothran said no other significant injuries had been reported, while search-and-rescue operations continued. Lake Village is about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Chicago and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Kankakee.
Residents described how the storm arrived quickly and how conditions complicated response. David Ferris of Lake Village said he, his wife and their dogs “rode it out in our downstairs bathtub,” adding that he was a paramedic and helped rescue and treat injured people. Ferris said another resident survived by crawling out of a damaged home and that the person was “having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation,” and he said a Family Dollar store and a gas station were destroyed along with multiple uprooted trees.
Emergency-management officials also reported power and warning challenges during the storm. Jennifer Telford, 49, said she hid in her basement while she followed news reports and that she did not hear the tornado, but heard hail pelting her roof. Telford said, “The siren in town didn’t go off,” while “The sirens outside town did,” and she said power returned by morning at the truck stop where she works but that “everything is closed due to the downed trees and power lines.” Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported about 4,300 customers in Lake Village and nearby communities were without power late Wednesday morning, down from more than 11,000 at the peak.
Across the region, the National Weather Service said crews were assessing the strength and number of tornadoes, and parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio remained under a tornado watch Wednesday. The storms also dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain and left hail piles in the Grand Rapids area in western Michigan, said Alex Manion, a weather service meteorologist in Detroit. Authorities also noted a suspected tornado record in the wider pattern: storms last week killed four people in southwestern Michigan and two in eastern Oklahoma.
In Kankakee County, officials said the hail was unusually large, with the Kankakee area seeing hail from 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 centimeters) in diameter. The National Weather Service said one 6-inch (15.2-centimeter) hailstone may have set a new state record. The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said a tornado touched down near the fairgrounds and then traveled northeast into Aroma Park, where it caused extensive damage.
In Aroma Park, officials said nine people in the county had minor injuries. Kankakee officials also described damage that ranged from shattered windows and torn-off roofs to destruction of infrastructure. The Associated Press reported that wood planks and other debris were scattered across yards, streets and parking lots, and that a landscape and garden center in Kankakee was seriously damaged, with some parts completely destroyed.
Tholens’ Garden Center was hit hard on the south side of Kankakee, owner Nancy Tholen said. Tholen told reporters that “We have multiple buildings, and lots of them are destroyed,” and she described the timing as disruptive to her spring plans, saying the business has operated for 50 years.
Elsewhere, restaurateur and village trustee Kathleen Slavin described seeing baseball-sized hail at the village hall and said the tornado knocked down trees, including trees “probably over a hundred years old,” and damaged main power lines. Ruth Denoyer, 69, said she swept up glass after the tornado blew out her windows, adding that it took down her whole garage and her pool, even as she said “we still have a roof, unlike some people out here.”
The Associated Press reported that the storm system was part of a wider outbreak of supercell thunderstorms across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana the previous day. The National Weather Service office in Chicago said one of the storms was responsible for at least four tornadoes.
This story has been updated to correct that Cassidy Sinwelski lives in Lake Village, Indiana, and that AP video journalist Laura Bargfeld reported from Lake Village, not Kankakee, Illinois.