Severe weather rolled through Northern Illinois for a few hours Wednesday.

According to the National Weather Service, Tornado Warnings were issued for most of Northern Illinois, including Cook County, and Northwest Indiana on Wednesday. Also, Tornado Watches and Flood Advisories were also issued Wednesday evening.

Chicago Area Storm Damage

In Streamwood in Cook County, the front and side of the Portillo’s Restaurant on the 950 block of Barrington Road in the Westview Shopping Center was damaged during Wednesday’s severe weather.

About 20 to 30 homes at Edgewater by Del Webb, a retirement facility in Elgin, were damaged due to a tornado that moved through the area, according to fire officials.

As of now, no injuries have been reported and no homes or buildings collapsed.

Kane County Emergency Management and neighboring public safety personnel are assisting in the Elgin area. There is also extensive damage in South Elgin and parts of unincorporated Elgin Township.

The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are working with residents who are displaced.

There are a lot of downed power lines in McCook and in the area that is making travel difficult. 

There was extensive damage to the Skyline Motel in McCook.

At least six of the rooms at the motel are damaged.

Ty Carr, who is visiting from Arizona, said it happened so fast and there was chaos.

“Never seen anything like this,” he said.

A few people who were staying at the motel at the time are now displaced and looking for other places to stay. 

Most of homes damaged appear to have been along Willow Springs Road in Countryside.

Severe weather and tornadoes began hitting the area around 6 p.m., with damage to the area being extensive. Roofs and sides of homes were blown off by winds, while trees were completely uprooted and some even snapped in half.

“The windows in our house shattered … It all went black,” said Tatiana Vidakovich, a countryside resident. “The house you could kind of feel shaking because parts of our roof kind of feel off.”

No injuries have been reported as of Wednesday evening in Countryside.

There are still scattered power outages throughout Indian Head Park as of 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, and gas services have been shut off in the area as emergency crews work to remove trees that have fallen across power lines in the area.

No injuries have been reported in the area as well.

Trained weather spotters have reported uprooted trees and roofs blown off near Joliet Road and LaGrange Road in Countryside in Cook County. 

Near Huntley in McHenry County, there are reports of trees down and damages to home near Algonquin and Reed Roads.

At the Fox Bend Golf Course in Oswego in Kendall County, there are reports of a six inch tree limb down.

O’Hare & Midway International Airport

A ground stop was issued Wednesday at both Midway and O’Hare due to the storms, according to the FAA. Tornadoes on the ground were reported near both airports. Kevin Bargnes, the director of communications for O’Hare, said there are no reports of damage.

Brett Borchardt, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed that multiple tornadoes touched down across the Chicago area, though it is too early to tell just how many.  

Borchardt says the NWS assessing the damage across the area to determine which localities were worse hit. The surveying of damage will likely take days. 

“This is a relatively rare event for our area, especially in the month of July,” Borchardt said. “A lot of unique things had to come together and it’s one of those situations that we really couldn’t see until it was just coming to together. A lot of dominos really have to fall in the wrong direction.” 

The severe weather season typically peaks from May to August, Borchardt added.  

“We’re really in the heart of the severe weather season,” Borchardt noted, adding that severe weather can strike at anytime in the Chicago area.  

Though the months of May and June were considered dry, Borchardt said the drought did not have any impact on Wednesday’s severe weather. 

“It just shows that the city of Chicago is not immune to tornadoes,” Borchardt said. “The skyscrapers don’t stop tornadoes. Severe weather can really strike anywhere, no matter the time of day, time of night, time of year.” 

No severe injuries have been reported.  

Viewer Photo Submissions

Viewer Video Submissions

The video below shows a tornado near the Sam’s Club on Randall Road in Elgin: Video Courtesy Heather Mikos

The video below shows a tornado near the intersection of McDonald Road and Randall Road in South Elgin: Video Courtesy Pete Potempa

The video below shows a storm moving through Westchester from the Chicago Highlands Golf Club: Video Courtesy Paul Schlimm

The video below shows a tornado moving through Campton Hills: Video Courtesy Network Video Productions

The National Weather Service says a tornado has touched down near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport following warnings of severe weather for the city: Video courtesy of Ashley Biess

Video below shows a possible tornado near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport: Video Courtesy from WGN’s Jewell Hillery.

Stay with WGN as this story develops.