The weather system that created so much tragedy in Oklahoma made its way to the Chicago area last night, causing problems here.
The storm hit Peoria with massive amounts of hail and 60 mph winds and poured widespread heavy rain. As the storm swept through, residents said the fiercest moment was when the lightning struck.
Chicagoan Art Delgado saw lightning strike his cousins' home across the street.
"First it was small but the second one, it hit so hard," Delgado said. "And when I came out my family was running out of the house. It was so hard it got me off the couch."
His family ran across the street and saw the house smoking. Delgado said his cousins immediately evacuated, and thankfully no one was hurt. The lightning caused a fire in the home's attic, but fire crews put it out and the family was able to return.
"It just sounded like a bomb all of a sudden, and then in less than five minutes there was a lot of smoke," neighbor Katherine Abeja said. "We came running out of the house. They told us to get out."
This storm started in the far southwest suburbs and brought widespread heavy rainfall.
In Darien a four-unit townhouse was struck, blowing a hole in the roof. Residents say crews got to the scene in less than 10 minutes and quickly put out the fire before it spread into other units.
"We heard this enormous sound," resident Peter Caruso said, "this lighting and thunder. The thunder was just frightening."
The Madsens were all near the living room when the rain really started coming down. After closing all the windows, Kevin Madsen said he had sat down to relax when out of nowhere a crack of lightning shot through the room.
Angela Madsen, 18, was on the computer with headphones on when it happened. "It felt like a big shock," she said. "It went down my arm, and I don't know, I heard loud ringing."
"There was such intensity she just yanked her head phones off and fell back and then started crying hysterically but then she was holding her ears," Kevin Madsen said.
Residents note, though, that this is nothing compared to Oklahoma.
"I felt so sorry for them," Caruso said. "This is nothing compared to what they went through. You're going to make me cry."
The Chicago storm ended in the early hours, leaving behind humidity and another chance for severe storms.
