77M Under Storm Threat as Tornadoes Tear Up Midwest

A fresh round of severe weather is tearing across the central US, with CNN reporting two people were killed in northwest Indiana, and more than 77 million people from the Midwest to the Southern Plains were under some level of tornado threat as of Wednesday. Northern Illinois faces the highest risk, with a "moderate" tornado outlook for about 2 million residents in communities south and east of Chicago, including Joliet, Peoria, and Bloomington; lower-level risk zones stretch as far as Texas and Tennessee. A tornado emergency was declared Tuesday in Knox, Indiana, where the National Weather Service warned of a "life-threatening situation." Heavy rain, high winds, and golf ball-size hail have also hit the Chicago region, reports NBC News, and rivers in Illinois and Indiana are under flood warnings.

Damage has been reported across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, with homes, buildings, and roads affected, though no deaths have been confirmed. In Kankakee County, Illinois, officials declared a state of emergency and began search and rescue operations. "I started hearing stuff breaking and caving in and pretty soon my kitchen fell on top of me from upstairs," said one resident in Aroma Park; he escaped unhurt after neighbors pulled him out. In Lake Village, Indiana, the local fire chief said a tornado delivered a "direct hit," destroying multiple homes and forcing residents to evacuate to a school. Said the local sheriff in a video, "Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now."