Midwest, Great Lakes brace for more severe storms

Communities across the Midwest are starting the cleanup process aft aggregate tornadoes touched down and terrible upwind struck areas from the Great Lakes to Texas. 

Another circular of terrible thunderstorms is forecast crossed parts of the Southern Plains, Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes connected Saturday day and into the night, according to the National Weather Service. 

Over 70,000 customers successful the Midwest and Great Lakes regions are without powerfulness arsenic of Saturday morning, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us. Most of the outages are successful Illinois and Missouri. 

At slightest 1 tornado touched down successful Rochester, Minnesota, astir 90 miles southbound of Minneapolis, connected Friday. David Vetsch said the tempest sounded "like a freight train." The main portion of the tornado deed his 89-year-old father's house, Vetsch said. While the location took extended damage, his begetter was unharmed. 

Blake Wight said Rochester residents are moving unneurotic to wide the damage. 

"I don't adjacent cognize who a batch of these radical are that are retired helping," Wight said. "Our vicinity is beauteous bully astir watching retired for each other." 

In Lena, Illinois, different tornado knocked retired powerfulness and caused extended harm connected Friday afternoon. Downed trees and wires made the colony intolerable to enter, according to the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office. Photos from Lena amusement monolithic trees toppled implicit and blocking roads. A Lena nonmigratory identified arsenic Marcia said she heard a histrion autumn successful her beforehand yard. 

"The energy went out, and I took the canine and went down successful the basement successful the shower, and I heard a large aged crash," she said. She said she archetypal thought the sound was the dependable of her extortion collapsing. 

Workers wide fallen trees and debris from the halfway of Lena, Illinois aft a tornado passed done connected April 17, 2026. Scott Olson / Getty Images

According to vigor postulation from nationalist information officials successful Stephenson County, determination were reports of "fairly extended damage" astatine the village's simple and precocious schools. Both facilities had students wrong of them astatine the clip of the tornado. No injuries were reported. 

Lena faced much storms passim the nighttime Friday. Stevenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall said the upwind "did not effect successful nonaccomplishment of beingness oregon superior injury." Lena is astir 120 miles from Chicago. 

A tornado successful suburban Kansas City destroyed homes and knocked retired power, but again did not origin immoderate deaths oregon superior injuries. 

Damage was reported passim Oklahoma, according to the state's Department of Emergency Management. In Ponca City and Kay County, trees were downed, the section said. Trees and powerlines were besides knocked down successful Osage County's McCord area. Some homes successful the portion besides had their roofs damaged, the section said, and a marina was damaged astatine Kaw Lake. 

In:

• Severe Weather
• Tornado