Tornadoes damage homes and knock out power near Chicago

Tornadoes touched down in several communities outside Chicago on Thursday, damaging homes, ripping roofs off buildings and toppling power poles. In Streator, Illinois, a confirmed tornado tore through the manufacturing and farm city about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.

The city set up a reunification center at city hall and the Red Cross opened a shelter. Streator Mayor Tara Bedei said there were no reported fatalities.

Power outages and flight disruptions More than 243,000 customers were without power in Illinois as of Thursday evening. Commonwealth Edison Company said poles and wires had been downed across northern Illinois and expected 80 percent restoration by late Saturday.

Ground stops were issued at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports and at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. More than 1,000 flights into and out of Chicago were delayed or canceled.

Heat and humidity build along East Coast Potentially dangerous heat and high humidity arrived Thursday and were expected to continue Friday from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency and opened cooling centers. New York City officials urged residents without air conditioning to find a cool place to stay and drink plenty of water.

Wednesday a 54-year-old man died in Des Moines, Iowa, after a tree fell on him at a homeless encampment during strong storms. In Unionville, Missouri, a family watched a tornado destroy their mobile home minutes after they evacuated. In Springfield, Illinois, two buildings at the Animal Protective League shelter lost their roofs, but none of the nearly 150 cats and 28 dogs inside were injured.