Suspected tornadoes damage homes and knock down trees, power lines in Illinois, Indiana

A string of tornadoes touched down in multiple states as severe weather stretched from Texas to Michigan, causing at least two deaths and major damage, according to officials.

Lake Village, Indiana — a town of about 1,800 people in Newton County — was in the path of a tornado Tuesday night. Two people died, according to Liz Woods, deputy chief of staff at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

The extent of damage was not known as of Wednesday morning, but teams would be out assessing the damage, she said.

“There is a lot of devastation, there are complete annihilation of homes,” said Lori Postma with the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department, in Lake Village.

Alarge tornado also struck downin the Kankakee County area south of Chicago, where it downed trees and power lines and overwhelmed the 911 center with emergency calls, according to officials.

The twister caused major damage on the south side of Kankakee City, said Trooper Jayme Bufford, a spokesperson for Illinois State Police. It then traveled northeast into Aroma Park, where it leveled entire blocks — shearing the roofs off some buildings and ripping straight through others.

The tornado was seen on video ripping across a field of farmland near an airport. Its speed and force left residents stunned as it barreled toward their homes.

It came with a storm that also dumped softball-sized hail, which could be the largest the state has ever seen.

“We stepped out and saw our neighbors garage gone … and the next neighbor’s house gone, both of our cars, my living room, our shed, gone,” said Carlin Arseneau, a Kankakee resident.

Officials were seen overnight going door to door and walking through homes in rubble, performing search and rescue efforts.

The American Red Cross of Illinoissaid a shelter was open at Kankakee Community College, offering meals, charging stations pet kennels and a place for people to stay.

Tornado watches were in effect Wednesday morning for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, according to the National Weather Service.

This comes just days after at leastsix people were killedlast week in Michigan and Oklahoma after powerful storms produced at least three tornadoes.