Monday’s storms produced several spotted tornados in rural Illinois.
As of Monday evening, National Weather Service teams were still surveying the damage and strength of the storms that left thousands without power.
In Sycamore, several homes were damaged as a tornado touched down near Bethany Rd. and Fenstermaker Rd.
Megan Gerwig rushed home to her family from work after getting alerts on her phone. Before taking shelter in their basement, the family was able to capture the tornado approach their home.
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“You feel like you’re on a movie set because you’re like, I just sat there with the dog last night and watched the sunset,” said Gerwig. “We saw the barn roof come off. We saw the debris in the air and that’s how we knew.”
Gerwig’s home was hit by a tree which caused damage to front end of her house. Trees and debris from nearly a mile away now litter her backyard.
Her two neighbors were also hit with trees. On Monday morning, neighbors helped each other clean up while waiting for damage assessments for the homes.
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The tornado touched down just a few hundred yards from videographer Scott Lasker who was filming the storm on Airport Rd.
“I had to struggle a little bit to hold the camera steady. There was definitely wind. You felt a pressure or almost like a suction, you know?” said Lasker. “I just had to make a lot of quick decisions.”
As of Monday evening, no one had been reported injured.
ComEd says power has been restored to 2,200 customers in DeKalb County. Although Gerwig tells NBC 5 she’s still using generators for power.
To see footage of the tornado that hit Sycamore, be sure to watch the video above.
