At Least 14 Tornadoes Confirmed In IL After Friday's Storms

At least 14 tornadoes blew through Illinois heading into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service as of Sunday, when surveyors continued to investigate Friday’s storms.

The fastest was a lone EF2, which hit Lena just after 3:30 p.m., reaching an estimated peak of 130 mph and maximum width of 750 yards, according to the service’s Quad Cities team, which noted the tornado’s path was 8.5 miles.

“We are extremely fortunate that this storm did not result in loss of life or serious injury,” Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall said of the storm.

EF1 tornadoes, which are considered moderate and have a maximum speed of 110 mph, occurred south of Fairbury, near Mendota, and in Gibson City, Buckley, Harrison, Roscoe, Denver, Colmar, Normal and Bloomington, where there were two, according to the weather service.

There was an EFO in Saybrook and an EFU in Pecatonica, officials said.

No deaths were reported following Friday's storms, which barreled through the Upper Midwest and delivered the latest round of severe weather to batter the region.

A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the U.S. on Saturday after the burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Officials braced residents for a long recovery in some rural communities.

Rachel Nemon was going to pick up her stepson from Lena's middle school when she had to pull into a car wash to take cover from the storm. She watched a large tree get ripped from the ground and sparks fly feet in front of her.

“This is something that you see online, not in real life, especially in a small town in Illinois,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.