By Brittany Levine From Mashable

A multi-state tornado outbreak has spawned at least one large “wedge” tornado that tore across northern Illinois, demolishing buildings in a small town and killing at least one. At the peak of the outbreak on Thursday night, tornado warnings extended from Ohio to Texas along a powerful cold front that was moving eastward.

Authorities say 67-year-old Geraldine M. Schultz was killed and eight people injured after the tornado swept through tiny Fairdale, Illinois, an unincorporated town of about 150, some 80 miles northwest of Chicago.

Severe Weather
Damage was widespread in Fairdale. Roofs were ripped off homes and numerous structures were reported to be heavily damaged or completely leveled. Workers used chainsaws to clear roads blocked by snapped trees.

The very large tornado that struck Fairdale was broadcast live on national television by the Weather Channel, with the help of storm chasers on the ground.

The National Weather Service says at least two tornadoes churned through six north-central Illinois counties — Boone, DeKalb, Lee, McHenry, Ogle and Winnebago. Three teams were being deployed to assess the damage, the path of the tornadoes and their strength.

The tornado struck Fairdale around 7 p.m., sweeping homes off their foundations and leaving streets impassable with debris and downed power lines. Officials say at least 17 structures were destroyed and about 50 damaged.

Other parts of DeKalb County also saw heavy damage. In neighboring Rochelle, rescue officials pulled more than a dozen people out of destroyed buildings. Fourteen people were rescued after being trapped in the Grubsteakers restaurant in Rochelle, according to The Daily Chronicle. Others were pulled out of their pummeled homes, WREX Channel 13’s Lindsey Clark reported on Twitter.

Robin Biggs, an employee at the Super 8 motel in nearby Rochelle, told The Associated Press she took video of the storm, which she said “took everything out in its path.”

“I have lived her 18 years and I have never seen a tornado that big or stay on the ground that long,” she said. “What we have is a small one touching the ground and going right back up, but this just stayed down and went all the way across the horizon.”

The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for several counties in the state earlier in the evening, including Marshall, Peoria, Woodford, and Sangamon.

The cold front producing the severe weather also generated massive hail, high winds and a few tornadoes on Wednesday. The front extends from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, and will present a severe storm threat overnight and again on Friday, this time along the eastern seaboard.

IMAGES:
Crews search wreckage on the IL-72 after a tornado came through the town earlier in the day on April 9, 2015 in Fairdale, Illinois. IMAGE: JON DURR
Damage after a tornado struck the small town of Fairdale Ill. the night of Thursday, April 9, 2015. IMAGE: DAILY HERALD, JOHN STARKS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Others from Twitter and Facebook

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