The National Weather Service advised people in the Chicago area to seek shelter on Wednesday night after a tornado was confirmed to be on the ground near O’Hare International Airport and moving east toward downtown.
“To repeat, a tornado is on the ground,” the Weather Service wrote in an advisory at 7:03 p.m. “TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.”
The Weather Service said that flying debris posed a threat to people outdoors and warned that mobile homes could be destroyed. There was some property damage, but no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, the authorities said.
Video showing a crowd of passengers sheltering at the O’Hare International Airport was uploaded to Twitter by a reporter. Trees were knocked over and a roof was torn off a home in Countryside, a suburb near Midway, southwest of Chicago, the local CBS News affiliate reported. An earlier warning for a tornado had been issued in that area.
The latest tornado warning for Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, Cicero and Evanston, expired at 7:45 p.m., the National Weather Service said on Twitter.
And by 8:21 p.m., a tornado watch in Cook County had been lifted, but remained in effect for some surrounding counties and part of Indiana until 10 p.m.
Judson Jones contributed reporting.
