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A tornado levels Northern Illinois town of Fairdale, killing at least one and injuring seven

A SMALL US town has been left devastated by a huge tornado with one resident killed, all its buildings damaged and half of those erased from the map.

2 min read
April 10, 2015 - 9:19PM
A tornado-damaged house stands near fallen tree limbs in Fairdale, Ill., Thursday night, April 9, 2015.
A tornado-damaged house stands near fallen tree limbs in Fairdale, Ill., Thursday night, April 9, 2015.

A SMALL town in the US state of Illinois has been left devastated by a huge tornado with one resident killed and nearly half of all its buildings completely levelled.

All the structures in the town of Fairdale sustained damage.

The tornado that hit Fairdale was part of a large storm system sweeping across a large swath of the US.

The vast storm system brought high winds and rain to east Texas, ripping off a church rooftop there and damaging a nursing home, prompting an evacuation, authorities said.

Wiped out ... An aerial image from Friday shows houses flattened by the tornado in Fairdale, Illinois. Picture: AP
Wiped out ... An aerial image from Friday shows houses flattened by the tornado in Fairdale, Illinois. Picture: AP

In Fairdale a 67-year-old woman was found dead inside her home, county coroner Dennis Miller said at a news conference early Friday. Seven others were taken to hospitals with injuries after the National Weather Service first tweeted about 7pm Thursday (10am Friday) that a tornado was on the ground in the region.

In the town of about 200 residents about 130 kilometres northwest of Chicago, “17 structures have been determined to be destroyed,” Matthew Knott, division chief for the Rockford Fire Department, told The Associated Press. “All of the others have sustained damage of some sort.”

The town’s power was out early Friday, and everyone had been evacuated. A shelter was set up at a nearby high school.

Some 20 additional homes were severely damaged or destroyed in nearby Ogle County, Sheriff Brian Van Vickle said, adding no deaths or significant injuries were reported there.

Devastating ... Crews search wreckage in Fairdale, Illinois. Picture: Jon Durr/Getty Images
Devastating ... Crews search wreckage in Fairdale, Illinois. Picture: Jon Durr/Getty Images

Van Vickle said 12 people were trapped in the basement of a restaurant in Rochelle in that state that collapsed during the storm.

One of those rescued from the restaurant, Raymond Kramer, 81, told Chicago’s WLS-TV that he was trapped with 11 others in the storm cellar for 90 minutes. They were freed unharmed only after emergency crews removed debris that had fallen all around.

The severe weather, the region’s first widespread bout, forced the cancellation of more than 850 flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and dozens of others at the city’s Midway International Airport.

While hurricanes and tornadoes can be a common occurrence in southern states like Florida, surprised residents in Northern Illinois looked on as the sizeable tornado cleared a path through fields and homes.

The large, long-track tornado began near Ashton, Illinois. The storm is predicted to continue to push east into the Deep South as well as the Eastern Seaboard bringing severe storms and heavy rains.

As rescue workers begin to sift through the damage, the clean up effort is now under way.

Many residents were surprised to have a tornado is their backyard.
Many residents were surprised to have a tornado is their backyard.
Firefighters search for people as they go door-to-door after a tornado in Fairdale, Ill., Thursday.
Firefighters search for people as they go door-to-door after a tornado in Fairdale, Ill., Thursday.

Originally published as A tornado levels Northern Illinois town of Fairdale, killing at least one and injuring seven

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/a-tornado-levels-northern-illinois-town-of-fairdale-killing-at-least-one-and-injuring-seven/news-story/dc92fc4d0454de12256a4807c98e4eb5