Tornado watches and warnings put more than 10 million people throughout the Midwest and Southern Plains under threat on the evening of March 10 and the morning of March 11. Severe hail was reported from Texas to Illinois, and flash flooding was reported in Michigan. Buildings, cars and land were destroyed as a result of the storms. 

Several tornadoes formed in Illinois, but an exact count is still unavailable until official damage surveys are conducted.

About 55 miles south of Chicago, a tornado touched down in Kankakee County, near Kankakee Fairgrounds, and later on, continued to rage across the Kankakee River into Aroma Park, causing major destruction in its path. 

According to PBS, authorities said that in Illinois and Indiana, where the storms had leveled homes, at least two people were killed and others injured.

“To everyone affected by the storm and tornado damage in Illinois,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker says on X, “you are not alone.”

These storms continued to rage even after the tornadoes dispersed, which brought large hail. Hail the size of softballs destroyed car windshields and windows, and one report estimated a hailstone roughly the size of a coffee mug.

“Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather,” Pritzker says on X, “we’ll be here to help them recover.”

According to WTTW, the storm produced exceptionally large hailstones, including one being six inches large in Kankakee, which is awaiting confirmation as the largest ever in Illinois. Numerous other reports were submitted of three to five inch hailstones.

With more severe weather on the way, those with little housing left do the best they can find somewhere to shelter while their houses are being repaired.