A powerful storm packing what may have been a tornado damaged or destroyed nearly two dozen homes and injured one person in central Illinois on Friday, authorities said.
The storm hit an area near Lake Petersburg in Menard County around 12:30 p.m., according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Smith.
He said damage was reported to homes around the lake near Petersburg, a community of about 2,200 people which is northwest of
Springfield.
"It all happened very, very quickly as these things often do," Sheriff Chuck Jones told The State Journal-Register. "Shortly before the storm, we did have the tornado siren, which was a good thing. A lot of people were alerted."
One injury was reported when a tree or tree limbs fell on a woman's car, said Jones. The woman's injuries weren't believed to be life threatening, but the woman was hospitalized.
The National Weather Service has issued tornado watches and warnings, along with severe thunderstorm warnings, for several central and southern Illinois counties.
Parts of the same weather system spawned tornadoes that killed several people between Arkansas and Missouri.
