At least two people are dead after a tornado tore through Lake Village, Indiana Tuesday night, destroying a home and killing an elderly couple inside. Multiple tornadoes spawned by a single supercell thunderstorm ripped across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, leaving behind flattened structures, downed utility poles, injured residents, and communities still digging out Wednesday morning.
Newton County Coroner Scott McCord confirmed the deaths in a statement. Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran posted a video update Tuesday night in front of a destroyed home in Lake Village, delivering a blunt warning to anyone considering coming to help:
Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now.
Fewer than 10 people were hurt in Lake Village, according to Laurie Postma, spokesperson for the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department. Across the border in Kankakee County, nine more people suffered minor injuries.
Lake Village sits about 60 miles southeast of Chicago. The storms that rolled through were no ordinary severe weather event. At least four tornadoes were associated with a single supercell thunderstorm. At least 70 utility poles were knocked down. More than 11,000 customers lost power at the storm's peak, and roughly 4,300 remained without power by Wednesday morning.
In Kankakee County, the Kankakee County Sheriff's Office reported a tornado touchdown near the fairgrounds and additional damage in Aroma Park, AP News reported. The hail that accompanied the storm was staggering: stones ranging from 3 to 5 inches in diameter, with one measured at 6 inches across.
The National Weather Service said survey crews were expected out Wednesday to assess the strength and exact number of tornadoes. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio remained under a tornado watch Wednesday morning.
David Ferris, a Lake Village resident and paramedic in a neighboring county, sheltered with his wife and dogs during the storm, then immediately shifted into rescue mode. He described what neighbors faced when the tornado passed:
We had another house where a guy crawled out. He was having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation.
Ferris said he and his family "rode it out in our downstairs bathtub." That instinct likely made the difference. For the elderly couple who died, it did not.
Jennifer Telford, manager of a truck stop near U.S. 41 and a Lake Village resident, took shelter in her basement. She noted an unsettling gap in the warning system: "The siren in town didn't go off," she said. "The sirens outside town did." Whether that gap delayed any response or cost any reaction time is a question local officials will need to answer.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker posted on X that he had been briefed on the damage and offered words of support for affected residents:
Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather — we'll be here to help them recover.
Newton County officials held a news conference Wednesday morning to update the public on rescue operations and storm damage. The work on the ground continues.
The elderly couple killed in Lake Village have not been publicly identified. Their names have not been released. That restraint is appropriate. Behind every statistic in a storm report is a real home, a real life, and a family now sorting through what remains.
Two people went to sleep in their home Tuesday night. They did not survive the night. That is the weight of this story, and no damage assessment or utility restoration update changes it.
The survey crews will rate the tornadoes. The power will come back on. The community will rebuild. The names of the dead deserve to be remembered when their families are ready to share them.
