by Chi Ibe
Barely days after the world contended with Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 3,974 people and left at least 1,200 missing in Philippine, according to the latest official count released Sunday; another has left in its wake destruction, damage and at least two dead in parts of the United States just this evening.
Tornadoes tore through Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky on Sunday, the National Weather Service said, part of a dangerous line of fast-moving storms that ripped through the Midwest.
There were two confirmed fatalities in Washington County, Ill., Jonathan Monken, director of Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said.
According to the weather service, 70 tornadoes were reported across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, though that figure likely includes duplicates from eyewitnesses.
At least 10 states were in under severe weather alerts, as tornado watches were posted from Michigan to Arkansas. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power, according to weather officials.
“We obviously have a very dangerous situation on our hands and it’s just getting started,” NWS deputy director Laura Furgione said during a conference call with reporters earlier Sunday.
The Chicago Bears’ home game against the Baltimore Ravens was temporarily halted due to severe weather in the Chicago area, and fans were evacuated from the stands at Soldier Field. Play resumed several hours later.
Washington, 145 miles southwest of Chicago, was hit particularly hard.
“I went over there immediately after the tornado, walking through the neighborhoods, and I couldn’t even tell what street I was on,” Washington, Ill., Alderman Tyler Gee told the Associated Press.
“I stepped outside and I heard it coming,” Michael Perdun, a resident there, told the news service. “My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone. The whole neighborhood’s gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house.”
More photos thanks to @BuzzFeedNews:
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