CHICAGO, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Severe storms with hurricane-force wind gusts, hail and tornadoes swept across the midwestern United States on Wednesday, leaving widespread damage across the region.
Power outages continue to climb across the Midwestern state of Illinois as severe thunderstorms sweep through the state, knocking out electricity to nearly 40,000 customers, according to real-time power outage data platform PowerOutage.com.
Several tornadoes were confirmed throughout the day, while additional reports of large hail and wind damage poured in as discrete supercells developed ahead of the main line of storms in the region.
Trees were uprooted, vehicles damaged and homes destroyed as the storm moved through the region. Several communities reported hail the size of baseballs or larger in Illinois.
A Fox Weather expert warned that although tornado sirens may not be sounding continuously, the severe weather threat is not over, shifting from tornadoes to widespread damaging wind gusts and flash flooding overnight.
Motorists on parts of interstate highways in the affected area were urged to seek shelter and avoid trying to outrun the storm. ■
