Deadly tornado hits northern Illinois

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/10/deadly-tornado-fairdale-illinois

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One person has been killed and seven have been injured after a large tornado hit northern Illinois.

Hail and high winds were heading east early on Friday as storms rumbled through the midwest during the region’s first widespread bout of severe weather of the season.

More than 850 flights at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport were cancelled on Thursday, as were dozens at the city’s Midway international airport.

One person was killed in the tiny community of Fairdale, according to James Joseph, from the Illinois Department of Emergency Management.

Rockford fire department division chief Matthew Knott said at least seven people were injured. He said all of the approximately 50 structures in Fairdale has been damaged, and that most had been flattened.

Knott said emergency personnel were going house to house, sorting through debris and looking for other victims.

The National Weather Service tweeted around 7pm that a tornado was on the ground in Rochelle and urged residents to seek shelter immediately.

Ogle County sheriff Brian Van Vickle said about 20 homes there were severely damaged or destroyed. Twelve people were trapped in the basement of a restaurant that collapsed during the storm.

One of those rescued from the restaurant, Raymond Kramer, 81, said he had been trapped with 11 others in the storm cellar for 90 minutes. They were freed only after emergency crews removed debris that had fallen over them. He said none of those rescued were injured.

The Weather Service in Davenport, Iowa, said it had received multiple reports of tornadoes in the far eastern part of the state.