Tornado Strikes Midwest

March 28, 1998 / 11:32 AM EST / AP

A tornado struck without warning early Saturday in Mattoon, Ill., injuring three people and damaging several homes and businesses.

Six homes and several businesses were damaged just before dawn, firefighters said. Both the National Weather Service and the Coles County sheriff's department confirmed that the damage was done by a tornado rather than gusty wind.

The twister was part of a line of thunderstorms that rolled across the Midwest Saturday morning, sweeping through Illinois and into Indiana and the northwestern corner of Ohio.

Police dispatcher Lisa Hower said no warning siren was sounded before the twister hit Mattoon, population 18,000, which sits in east-central Illinois about 175 miles south of Chicago.

A 9-year-old girl was taken to Sarah Bush-Lincoln Hospital in serious condition. A spokeswoman there said another person was released after treatment, and a third did not appear to be seriously hurt.