National Weather Service confirms multiple tornadoes with Streator, Merrillville among hardest hit areas

Residents across Illinois and Indiana are cleaning up from severe damage after destructive tornadoes and severe storms hit on Thursday night. 

As of Friday evening, the National Weather Service has confirmed at least seven tornado touchdowns on June 11, including an EF-3 tornado in Kouts, Indiana, an EF-3 tornado in Streator, Illinois, an EF-2 tornado in Merrillville, Indiana, an EF-1 tornado in Bartlett , Illinois, an EF-1 tornado near Dwight, Illinois, an Ef-1 tornado in Wenona, Illinois, and an EF-0 tornado in St. John, Indiana.

Storm survey crews will be deployed across the area to assess the extent of damage, which officials said could take several days. 

Thousands without power across Illinois, Indiana  

ComEd officials provided an update on Friday morning on the storm restoration efforts following the back-to-back storms. 

ComEd said the 80 miles per hour winds had the biggest impact on their service area. Officials said nearly 3,000 employees have been working to restore power. 

"Our crews are working as fast as possible to get you back online," ComEd officials said. 

ComEd's chief operating officer said Wednesday's storm affected around 550,000 customers. It is estmated 80% of those outages have been restored and the rest should be complete by Saturday at 11 p.m.

The second round of storms on Thursday night impacted some of the same customers. Around 150,000 customers were impacted, and 70,000 have had their power restored. 

ComEd expects to restore power to the majority of its customers by Sunday. 

Customers can check for alerts on the ComEd website.  

As of 11 a.m. on Friday, nearly 62,000 NIPSCO customers in Indiana were without power. NIPSCO. 

Gary, Dyer, and Chesterton are among the areas in Indiana most impacted by the outages. NIPSCO had to shut off power to most of the city on Thursday night. 

NIPSCO customers can report outages here. 

Cleanup continues after destructive tornadoes 

Cleanup for the extensive damage stretching from the western suburbs to northwest Indiana is underway for the areas hit hardest.   

In Streator, Illinois, about 80 miles southwest of Chicago, multiple houses were completely destroyed after a tornado touched down. Trees were shredded and came crashing down on cars and roofs. 

There's a lot of hard work ahead for cleanup and repairs, but after two days of storms, and a slew of tornadoes, Friday provided calm sunny weather as cleanup efforts began in Streator.

Several homes were destroyed, multiple cars were heavily damaged, and debris was scattered across the city after the storms ripped through. Many damaged homes will have to be torn down and rebuilt.

At one home in Streator, police officers, neighbors, and a video journalist following the storms helped rescue a man pinned under debris after the house collapsed. The man suffered a broken leg and will require surgery, but otherwise will be okay.

Thankfully, no deaths have been reported from Thursday's storms in Illinois.

Extensive damage also was reported in Bridgeview, Illinois, where trees were uprooted, and telephone poles snapped. 

The fire chief said two apartment buildings were evacuated, and residents are taking refuge at the Bridgeview Village Hall. 

The National Weather Service will be conducting a survey in Bridgeview on Friday. 

Overnight, officials in Merrillville, Indiana, warned residents of road closures in the downtown area due to downed trees and power lines. Officials said a command center was established near 61st and Cleveland streets. 

"Please stay clear of any fallen utility lines or damaged utility poles as these pose a serious safety risk," officials said. 

A resident told CBS News Chicago he lost his gazebo and backyard area. "As you can see, it's all collapsed." 

The Andrean High School campus in Merrillville will remain closed on Friday due to significant damage. 

"There are active power lines, downed trees, broken glass, significant roof damage, etc., that make it unsafe," school officials said in a Facebook post. "While we assess the damage, mitigate safety risk, and determine next steps, we ask that you please stay away from campus until we provide an update." 

Gerado Regalado, his wife, and two daughters were home at the time the storm hit in Merrillville. The storm ripped off their roof, and left barely any walls standing as they took cover. Everything inside the house was damaged, but he's counting his blessings that his family is safe.

"We can make it again or get another one, but my daughter's life is more important than mine, you know? It's hard," Regalado said.

Zachary Van Drunen's church members helped pick up tree limbs and debris out of his yard in Merrillville. Van Drunen said the wind was a lot stronger than normal.

"As soon as we walked through the door, the biggest tree in my yard fell exactly where I was standing. Two seconds later, and we'd be having a completely different conversation right now," he said.

He lives right next door to Harold Curtis. He, his wife, and daughter were also home when the storm came through. They were headed to the basement when Curtis said he felt a strong gust of wind.

"As I shut the door behind me to go downstairs, it's like you felt the wind blow right in, and like in 15 seconds it was over," Curtis said.

In nearby Hebron, Indiana, residents woke up to a destroyed town on Friday morning.

Hebron resident Beth Bowen told CBS News Chicago that when she got out of her house safely, she found her garage had collapsed.  She said it sounded like "train." 

"We felt the pressure, our ears were popping, we thought the doors were going to blow over in our laundry room, it was shaking so bad," Bowen said. "We felt the house move." 

Professional storm chaser Gabe Cox followed Thursday's tornadoes for hours as the storms hit multiple communities, including Hebron.

He said he counted at least eight separate tornadoes on his own in Illinois and Indiana, and there were more that he couldn't get to.

"This was the most significant tornado outbreak I have ever covered personally," he said. "To see eight significant tornadoes back to back over the course of four hours, I've never experienced that before in my 10 years as a professional, 20 years of storm chasing."

Cox said he's still processing what he saw and experienced during the storms.

"Honestly, you know, with storm chasing, it's a range of emotions. There's the excitement of it, of course. You're seeing something just phenomenal that most people don't get to see. Then there's the reality of what it does, and ending the chase in Hebron last night brought that reality full scale, and so my heart sank. I feel bad for those people. I'm so thankful that they are okay, and not a scratch on them. Obviously, there's a lot of cleanup to be done, and these people are going to need a lot of help."

In Bartlett, Illinois, a BP gas station had 18 pumps ripped out of the ground from the force of the tornado that hit on Thursday, and debris from the gas station was blown into the parking lot of a nearby Wendy's.

Surveillance video captured the moment the gas pumps toppled to the ground. Garbage cans and debris also could be seen swirling around a parked car. Sources said the driver inside wanted to beat the storm, but stayed put when rain started falling.

Debris from the gas station could be found as far away as a strip mall across the street. The gas station owner said he hopes to have the pumps replaced and the gas station back in operation within the next two weeks.

Employees at the nearby Wendy's were cleaning up for the night when the storm blew through.

"I was in the bathroom, and out of nowhere, you just hear a gust of wind, and then it grows stronger and stronger and stronger, and then out of nowhere, you just hear booms, and everything breaks. The store vibrating, and then you get out, you really see the tornado from the window coming this way, and you could hear the branch fall," Jaden Cordero said. "We were in the tornado."

Thankfully, no one was injured.

Just down the road, a child care center was damaged with a fence ripped from the ground. Debris littered the playground.