Tornado touches down in southern DuPage County

Significant property damage in Naperville, Woodridge, Darien; brief radar rotation in Addison

Staff report

A powerful line of storms moved through the western suburbs late Sunday night, setting off tornado warning sirens throughout DuPage County.

The National Weather Service said significant storm damage occurred in Naperville, Woodridge and Darien-caused by likely one confirmed tornado traveling 10 miles that touched down between 11 p.m. Sunday and midnight Monday. More than 130 homes were damaged in Naperville with 22 homes left uninhabitable, while eight people were hospitalized. Storms on this level are terrifying for residents to go through, especially if they are not fully prepared to deal with the amount of damage that can come along with it, for example, hail storms have been known to seriously damage homes and vehicles with owners looking at ‘how to undo hail damage from your car‘ so they are not left paying out for a new one during this upheaval of severe weather.

There’s also been more than 70 reports from different households declaring they’ve suffered some property damage and have debris in need of clearing up. One of the Property Damage Restoration Company could come to your aid in times like these. If your property got damaged by the storm then make sure you go to reputable companies and not the scalpers that will go door by door offering their services. The same should be applied for any repairs that are being made, whether they are on the interior or outside of the house. Make sure you Read More about any roofing company you contact so you know they’re legitimate and offer and quality service.

Naperville had some natural gas breaches and leaks that were quickly contained, Fire Chief Mark Putnaitis told CBS Channel 2 news on Monday. None of the homes caught fire and there were no explosions.

In Woodridge, officials said at least 100 structures were damaged and three adults were hospitalized.

The NWS reported that the nature of the radar signatures and damage indicated this tornado could potentially have been an EF-2+ rated tornado which can produce winds between 111 and 135 mph. If this is the case, it would be the first EF-2+ tornado in the NWS’s Chicago County warning area since Feb. 28, 2017 (Naplate/Ottawa). In one area of Naperville, however, the damage was consistent with an EF-3 tornado, which packs winds of between 136 and 165 mph.

An EF-4 tornado touched down in DuPage County on June 13, 1976, resulting in 23 injuries, two deaths and around $13 million in damage.

There also was rotation and spotty damage Sunday night that occurred from Kaneville to North Aurora, radar rotation in far north Downers Grove to Hinsdale, and brief radar rotation in the Addison and Plainfield areas.