Millions of Americans from Texas to Maryland are bracing for another blast of severe storms after a deadly outbreak of tornadoes in the heartland carved a 50-mile path of destruction and left at least two people dead.
Tornadoes were reported Thursday across three states, almost all of them in Illinois. One of those tornadoes, an EF-4, according to officials, packed winds up to 200 miles per hour and devastated the town of Fairdale, Illinois, where two people died.
A 67-year-old woman was found unresponsive in her Fairdale home by family members and later pronounced dead, according to DeKalb County Coroner and County Emergency Services Coordinator Dennis Miller. The local coroner later identified the woman as Geraldine M. Schultz.
Another victim, Jacklyn K. Klosa, 69, was found later, officials said. She lived in a home with no basement and was found dead in her shower, where she sought shelter, The Associated Press reported.
At least a dozen other people were injured, officials said.
Fairdale, an unincorporated farming community of about 150 people, resembled a kind of moonscape. From above, you could make out the path the twister took as it barreled through a neighborhood, appearing to leave no home spared.
Photos: Deadly Tornado Leaves Illinois Town in RuinsThe small town, situated in north-central Illinois about 80 miles from Chicago and 30 miles south of the Wisconsin border, didn’t have tornado sirens, but residents were warned of the tornado through TV and radio.
The tornado affected all 40 to 50 homes and structures in Fairdale, authorities said. Incident commander Pete Polarek said the winds proved to be too powerful for the less than one-square-mile town of about 200 residents.
“There’s some houses that were pushed into a big pile,” Polarek said at a news conference. “Some of the others, all that's left is a foundation.”
The tornado was part of a strong system bringing hail and damaging winds to the Midwest and Plains. It was the same storm system that overturned a school bus full of children in Tulsa, Oklahoma, two days ago.
In Rochelle, Illinois, home after home was completely destroyed. A dozen people inside a Rochelle restaurant rushed to the basement, trapped as the storm went right for them. They included Raymond Kramer, his arm around his wife, Betty.
"Oh when it hit, definitely, we knew it hit,” he said. “We didn't know how bad."
But it appeared that Fairdale was hit the hardest. Kirkland Fire Chief Chad Connell, speaking at an overnight news conference, said he expected the region’s tight-knit nature to emerge following the tornado.
“It’s times like now, we really rally around community,” he said.
A shelter was set up at a nearby high school and the Red Cross and Salvation Army were assisting.
The Associated Press and ABC News' Michael S. James contributed to this report.