An EF-1 tornado touched down in a rural area of Will County near the Kankakee County border on Monday evening in storms that forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights at Chicago's airports and caused flooding.
A tornado with winds between 95 and 105 mph touched down at about 7:35 p.m. near Symerton, the National Weather Service said Friday. The twister snapped large tree limbs, flipped grain bins weighing 320 pounds, and damaged some buildings.
Earlier Monday, at least two separate funnel clouds were spotted near Midway International Airport. Another area of rotation was spotted over Millennium Park.
Tornado sirens sounded in several parts of the city, including the Loop, in Bridgeport and in Uptown.
A distress call from a boat on Lake Michigan also reported a water spout about five miles east of Hyde Park. The boaters were all fine, officials told the NWS.
Standing water forced the closing of the Eisenhower Expressway -- Interstate 290 -- between Harlem and Des Plaines, and the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line "L'' on the city's West Side. Blue Line trains were operating only between Cicero and O’Hare until further notice, and a shuttle bus was used to take passengers through the affected area.
Local
Downtown, the downpour caused the Chicago River to swell, sending a new part of the riverwalk underwater.
The Chicago Department of Aviation reported delays of up 30 minutes at O'Hare International Airport, where more than 430 flights were cancelled. Delays of 35 minutes and the cancellation of 25 flights are reported at Midway International Airport.
A spokesperson with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago told NBC Chicago the city's deep tunnel was full and that locks in Wilmette and at Navy Pier were opened.
In the suburbs, a trained weather spotter reported three feet of standing water near the intersection of Ann and Joliet streets in West Chicago in DuPage County.
Flash flooding in west suburban Aurora stranded a car near Illinois Avenue and Constitution Drive, where 1.5 feet of water was flowing on the roadway, the weather service said.
Sugar Grove in Kane County saw a full inch of rain in just 19 minutes. Closer to the city, west suburban Oak Park experienced 1.25 inches of water in just 45 minutes.
Several thoroughfares in Elmhurst were also closed because of flooding, including parts of Route 83, North Avenue at I-290, York Street, Spring Road and several side streets.
