By ,
Published July 14, 2017
At least one tornado swept through western Illinois Thursday evening, causing extensive damage in one community, but no serious injuries.
Search and rescue operations continued through the night in Cameron, a town of about 600 people that's roughly 200 miles southwest of Chicago. No one except first responders was being allowed into the town.
"The tornado caused significant damage to the town," including numerous power lines down and several gas leaks, Illinois State Police said in a statement.
The tornado touched down around 7:30 p.m. local time as a line of storms swept through an area stretching from Galesburg in western Illinois to the western suburbs of Chicago.
Cameron resident Mike Trout, 50, took refuge in his basement during the twister and said all he could hear was the roaring and windows breaking. Every window in his house was shattered and a 2-by-6-inch piece of lumber pierced through a wall of his home.
"I lived in this town in 1989 when the last tornado touched down," he told the Galesburg Register-Mail. "The damage this time is far, far worse; 1989 doesn't even compare to this."
The Warren County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to KWQC-TV that the tornado also passed through the towns of Kirkwood and Monmouth. Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director James Joseph told the Associated Press that no patients were received at area hospitals, though he added that it was possible that anyone injured could have been treated at the scene of the damage.
Local electric utility Ameren Illinois said thousands of customers in the area were without power. A temporary shelter was set up at United High School near the town of Monmouth.
National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Ervin said survey teams would be dispatched at first light Friday morning to determine extent of the damage and the strength of the tornado.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/tornadoes-reported-in-part-of-illinois