A powerful thunderstorm that rolled through Central Illinois on Friday night caused numerous downed power lines, leaving thousands of customers without power.
Much of McLean County, including Bloomington-Normal, was under a tornado warning as the storm approached shortly before 9 p.m.
McLean County Emergency Management Agency Director Cathy Beck said trained spotters detected a tornado near Stanford that knocked down trees and power lines over one house, where a resident had to be relocated. She said a home in Downs was also badly damaged by strong winds.
“The storm tonight was pretty severe,” Beck told WGLT late Friday, noting more than three-quarters of the county was under a tornado warning at one time. “Sirens were being sounded all over the place."
Beck said there are no reports of injuries.
Normal Fire Department spokesperson Matt Swaney said NFD is responding to dozens of emergency calls and that off-duty firefighters have been called in to assist, in addition to help from several rural communities.
The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 85 miles per hour in Normal at 9:06 p.m. as the storm pushed to the east.
Ameren and Corn Belt Energy reported more than 23,000 customers had lost power as off 11 p.m.
"Our crews are actively assessing the situation and have identified multiple broken poles across both the distribution and transmission system," Corn Belt said in a Facebook post. "Due to the extent of the damage, members should prepare for extended outage times as restoration efforts will require significant repairs."
This story will be updated.
