1 killed in Portage, Indiana, house explosion during severe storms

One person was killed in a house explosion in Portage, Indiana, during a severe weather outbreak Tuesday morning.

The mayor of Portage confirmed the death to CBS News Chicago. He did not offer any details about the house explosion itself and the subsequent fire, and would only say it was on the north side of the city.

The identity of the person who died has not been released.

Aerial images of the site showed a massive debris field around the remains of a house that was engulfed in flame. A of 3 p.m., CBS Skywatch was over the scene where the fire was still burning. 

It was not immediately clear if the explosion was directly caused by Tuesday's weather, but line of extreme dangerous thunderstorms  pummeled Northwest Indiana, spawning a radar-confirmed tornado in Crown Point and destructive winds across the area that downed trees, power lines, tipped semi-trucks on the highway, and left hundreds of thousands of people without power.

CBS News Chicago First Alert meteorologists said they believe the house was likely hit with straight-line winds going 100-110 mph, which are the same strength as an EF-1 tornado. 

CBS News Chicago has reached out to officials for more information on the house explosion and death and are waiting to hear back.