EF-3 tornado destroys multiple homes in Streator, Illinois, but residents thankful to be alive

After a powerful tornado hit Streator, Illinois, on Thursday, home after home was leveled, leaving debris as far as the eye can see.

The National Weather Service confirmed on Friday that an EF-3 tornado, with winds of at least 136 mph, hit Streator. At least three other tornadoes have been confirmed in Illinois and Indiana from Thursday's storm, a number that is expected to grow as storm damage surveys continue in the coming days.

At Cindy Wolff's home in Streator, the ponies in their pen seemed perfectly content on Friday, but Wolff only wishes she could move on as quickly. The rest of her neighborhood is far from normal.

"They're pretty much back to normal," she said. "They're getting used to the chainsaw sounds and the helicopters and the drones and all that."

Her horses live in the here and now, but Wolff said she's still reliving Thursday evening after a tornado took out her barn.

"It devastated me," she said. "I thought they were gone."

Shawn Bogan barely recognizes his childhood home, where the roof was torn off, and many of the walls were knocked down. He lives in St. Louis now, but his 78-year-old mom never left Streator.

"It's really overwhelming," he said.

Bogan called his mom to warn her about the storm, and she made it to her bathtub just in time.

"She's really super lucky to be alive. It's the only part of the house that has some type of roof left or ceiling left," he said.

His mom survived, and that's worth celebrating. A bottle of sparkling wine survived the twister.

"It's definitely going to be funny to drink this someday," he said.

While some people in Streator suffered bumps and bruises, and in one case a broken ankle, no life-threatening injuries or deaths have been reported.

In the here and now in Streator, there's gratitude for that.