2 Confirmed Dead in Aftermath of Tornadoes West of Chicago Area

A tornado touched down in Rochelle, about 75 miles west of Chicago Thursday evening at about 6:45 p.m., and then moved on to Fairdale, 25 miles northeast, just south of Rockford, leaving much damage in its wake. Two people are now confirmed dead, according to officials.

Police and fire officials assessed the damage Friday morning. All 71 buildings in Fairdale were damaged by the storm, and many houses were destroyed. Geraldine Schultz, 67, died in her home on Main Street.

“She was removed from the home by family members, and I took her from there,” DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller said at a Friday morning news conference.

CBS 23 in Rockford is reporting a second death in Fairdale. A man told reporter Whitney Martin his aunt was found dead in the bathroom. Her name was Jacklyn Klosa, 69, and she, too, lived on Main Street, just down the block from Geraldine Schultz. Klosa, who sought shelter in her shower, was found clutching her purse, Chicago Tribune reports.

Eleven people have been hospitalized. Several Fairdale residents are unaccounted for but are believed to be out of the area staying with friends or family.

Aerial sweeps of the communities are being conducted to look for anyone who may have been swept away by the storm.

The governor has declared Ogle and DeKalb counties disaster areas, which allows them to tap state resources for assistance and recovery.

Multiple ambulances and a mass-casualty trailer were requested Thursday evening for Fairdale, a small town of just 150 residents and eight streets, after the tornado swept through. Police shut down State Route 72 into Fairdale on Thursday. They are continuing to keep non-residents out of the area for safety reasons.

The tornado destroyed the two-story Grubsteakers restaurant on State Route 64 in Rochelle. Firefighters and rescue personnel went through the rubble looking for employees and customers buried in the basement where they had taken shelter. As of 9:15 p.m., all 12 people inside the restaurant were accounted for and rescued from the debris.

» HOW YOU CAN HELP: Illinois tornado relief efforts under way

Raymond Kramer, 81, told ABC 7 Chicago that he pulled over at Grubsteakers minutes before the storm.

“I stood at the door taking pictures of the tornado coming at me, and finally the owner of the restaurant said, ‘Everybody in the basement right now!’,” Kramer said. “And no sooner did we get down there when it hit the building and laid a whole metal wall on top of the doors where we went into the storm cellar.”

State Police dispatched troopers to Ogle County to assist local police. ComEd sent crews to the region to shut off power to the entire Fairdale community.

The tornado that touched down in Rochelle is described as a “wedge” tornado, which means the tornado is as wide as it is tall and has more than one vortice, according to AccuWeather. The tornado was estimated to be half a mile wide by Greg Forbes, a Weather.com storm expert.

The storm cell moved northeast through McHenry County and into the northwest suburbs, where heavy winds and hail damage has been reported around the community of Harvard. In Lake County, wind gusts reportedly reached 91 miles per hour in Waukegan Harbor. Severe thunderstorm warnings — with possible wind gusts of 60-70 miles per hour and hail — were in place for the Chicago region through 10 p.m. The most severe storms pushed over Lake Michigan after 10 p.m.

National Weather Service meteorologists on Friday will survey damage in Ogle, Winnebago, Lee, DeKalb, Boone and McHenry counties to rate the tornadoes.

More than 700 commercial flights were cancelled Thursday night at O’Hare International Airport due to the heavy winds and storms, and dozens more were cancelled at Midway Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

CBS 2 Chicago reports that a tornado also touched down in Belvidere at the Summerfield Farm and Zoo, just west of Rockford in Boone County. Tornadoes were also seen near downstate Peoria earlier Thursday but no damage or injuries were reported.