'Tornadic Storm' Tears Through South Suburbs On Memorial Day

SOUTHEASTERN COOK COUNTY, IL — A tornadic thunderstorm slammed the south suburbs Monday afternoon, making it the wettest Memorial Day on record. In the mid-afternoon, the National Weather Service sounded the tornado suburbs over a 30-mile radius after a funnel cloud was reportedly spotted over the Lockport area.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for northeastern Will County and southeaster Cook County, covering the areas of Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Lockport and New Lenox, Lemont, Goodings Grove, Homer Glen, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Worth, Palos Hills and Hickory Hills. The warning also stretched into Oak Lawn, Alsip, Matteson, Midlothian, Olympia Fields, Oak Forest, Chicago Ridge, Palos Park, Palos Heights, Crestwood, and south to Calumet City, Chicago Heights, Blue Island, Dolton, Chatham, Flossmoor, Posen, Burnham, Harvey and South Holland. Residents in these areas were advised to seek shelter.

The tornadic storm crossed the Will-Cook County line into southeastern Lemont, then moved into the Oak Lawn, Palos and Orland areas, sending water coursing through the streets and downing power lines. A funnel cloud was reported to have touched down in Sauk Village near the Illinois-Indiana border.

Hail pelted the area as winds roared. Chief Joe Miller, of the Palos Park Police Department, said that a funnel cloud was reportedly spotted over Palos Park.

“We had our police officers positioned throughout the village,” Miller said. “We received a couple of reports of a funnel cloud over 131st Street but nothing is confirmed.”

The Palos Park police chief added that much of the flood water had subsided by evening.

Over on the “K” streets in Oak Lawn sandwiched between Cicero Avenue and Pulaski Road, neighbors pitched in to clear debris from the storm drains in knee deep water.

Mayor Sandra Bury said the storm launched a neighbor’s shed onto her father’s fence near 55th Avenue and 102nd Street in Oak Lawn. Bury said that a microburst may have passed through the area, damaging trees on Mulberry Street, a block east of Central Avenue between 101st and 102nd Street.

“Bark was peeled off some trees and the leaves are stripped to their spines,” Bury said.

Chief Mike Mavrogeorge, of the Oak Lawn EMS-Fire-Rescue Department, reported downed trees and flooding in multiple areas across the village. Fire crews also made several rescues from vehicles stuck in water.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation Department also issued an “Overflow Action Alert.” Residents in affected areas were asked to reduce their water usage until Tuesday.

“The laundry and dishes can wait until tomorrow.”