Dangerous storms with tornadoes and giant hail tore across the Central US overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, killing at least two people.
Wednesday evening into early Thursday, this powerful line of severe storms with damaging winds barreled across the Gulf Coast, spawning several tornadoes and toppling hundreds of trees and powerlines. Nearly 150,000 customers were left without power by midnight.
The tornado threat, while less significant than Tuesday, isn't over. A tornado watch remains in effect for parts of southeastern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and west-central Georgia until 8:00 a.m. ET.
Here's the latest:
Tornado kills two: A married couple in their 80s died in Lake Village, Indiana, after a tornado hit the rural community around an hour south of Chicago, the Newton County, Indiana, coroner said. Several others were hospitalized. First responders said there was "total devastation" in the small community.
Several tornadoes reported Tuesday: Over a dozen tornadoes have been reported from Tuesday's storms in three states: Texas, Illinois and Indiana. A long-lasting supercell spawned multiple tornadoes as it tracked across Illinois and Indiana, including one that ripped through Kankakee and Aroma Park, Illinois, causing damage to several homes and buildings there. This twister was preliminarily given an EF-3 rating by the National Weather Service in Central Illinois. Several people were injured, but no one died, Kankakee's mayor said.
Monster hail: The storms also produced softball-sized or larger hail that crushed cars and caused damage in Illinois. One hailstone measured 6 inches in diameter, twice the size of a baseball, and may have set a new state record.
'Total devastation' in Indiana
Lake Village, a small town in northwest Indiana, was one of the places in the Midwest hit hardest by the tornado.
"Right before 7 p.m. (Tuesday), a large tornado hit our community, and it hit us hard," Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson Lori Postma said.
When first responders made an early assessment overnight, they found "total devastation," fire department chief Rob Churchill said. "There were houses that were collapsed. There were people trapped in houses. There's livestock loose," he said.
The Newton County Coroner's Office on Wednesday said Edward L. Kozlowski, 89, and his wife, Arlene Kozlowski, 84, were killed as the powerful tornado tore through the area.
Coroners preliminarily determined the couple's cause of death to be "multiple blunt force trauma," and an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.
The Kozlowskis were found by a relative in the yard behind their house, Arlene's sister toldCNN affiliate WLS.
"This is devastating," Christine Kwintera said, sharing that her sister and brother-in-law had lived there for decades and were enjoying a quiet life post-retirement.
"She was good to everyone, all the kids," Kwintera said, breaking down in tears as she described her sister. "She was a good person."
"They were wonderful, just really wonderful human beings," the couple's son-in-law Steve Rehfeldt toldCNN affiliate WBBM."You know, tough old guy and sweet old lady."
The Kozlowskis left behind four children, seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren, WBBM reported.
"[There is] a lot of damage. Please do not come here. Do not try to help," Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in avideo postfrom Lake Village late Tuesday night. Behind him, the tornado appeared to have reduced at least one home to rubble.
Fire department crews searched hundreds of homes in the dark and under dangerous conditions to look for survivors in the tornado's aftermath, Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said.
One survivor, Steven Travis, toldWBBMhe was at home when the storm barrelled down his street. He said the ceiling started coming down as the roof over his bedroom was lifted off.
"I climbed into the closet, and that's where I came out and debris was everywhere," he said. "I mean, the place was destroyed."
At least 100 structures were damaged as of Wednesday's count, including 32 destroyed, Fifield said. Those numbers are expected to rise, as many more homes have been damaged, he added.
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Injuries and widespread damage were reported in other parts of Indiana and Illinois, according to officials.
Several houses and other structures were also damaged after a tornado hit Starke County, Indiana, but there were no injuries or deaths, according to Starke County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Wayne James. The county includes the town of Knox, where the National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency — the most urgent type of tornado warning.
First responders, state and local officials, and the American Red Cross were providing immediate support to communities, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun saidin a post on XWednesday morning. "Maureen and I are praying for the families who lost loved ones and for every Hoosier impacted by the devastating tornadoes," Braun said.
Drone video from Kankakee County, Illinois, showed buildings torn apart and debris scattered across neighborhoods after the tornado moved through. Emergency crews navigated the wreckage overnight with flashlights, stepping over splintered lumber and fallen trees as they searched damaged homes.
Nine people had minor injuries but there have been no deaths or people reported missing in the county, according to Kankakee County Chairman Matthew Alexander-Hildebrand. "While homes, buildings and infrastructure can be rebuilt — lives cannot be replaced," he said.
Jim Horchem saw the tornado as it approached his neighborhood in Kankakee County. "I thought, geez, that's a tornado. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming. And … everything goes into slow motion," Horchem told CorClips journalist Jonathan Petramala.
Horchem and his family hid from the tornado inside a bathtub. As he watched water seep under the bathroom door, Horchem thought his home was already torn open. "I really thought, 'This is it, we're going to die.'"
Brandy Peppin said she had only minutes of warning before the storm reached her house. Her brother called to say he could see the tornado heading straight toward her home.
"Thank God," Peppin told CNN. "And I ran, grabbed my dog who was already in the closet where we go down into the crawl space and literally pulled the door open. He fell into the crawl space, and I went down there and we rode the tornado out. It was so loud."
"There would be little 'bang bangs' and then big ones," she said. "You could just tell that there was debris hitting the house and hear things hitting the house — it was so loud."
TheKankakee County Sheriff's Officeactivated its Emergency Operations Center and filed an emergency declaration with Illinois.
"I want to remind area residents to check on their neighbors and loved ones but to avoid unnecessary travel, if at all possible," Sheriff Mike Downey said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzkersaid he had been briefed on the storm damage and was monitoring the situation.
"Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather – we'll be here to help them recover," he said.
Thursday's forecast
Storms are pushing east after intensifying late Wednesday from Texas to the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic.
We could still see some isolated severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across the Southeast this morning through 8 a.m. ET, but relief from storms is on the way.
Aweather pattern changebegins to envelop the US Thursday, cooling down the east and limiting severe potential through the end of the week.
CNN Meteorologists Briana Waxman and CNN's Diego Mendoza and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.
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Dangerous storms with tornadoes and giant hail tore across the Central US overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, killing at le...
