Illinois Tornado Aftermath: Kankakee County Battles Record-Breaking Hail Damage and Tornado Destruction

Chicago’s Anti-Cruelty Downtown Adoption Center at 510 N. LaSalle Dr. welcomed six dogs to help the Kankakee County Animal Control create space in their shelter.

The tornado did not directly impact the Kankakee County Animal Control facility.

Family with children survives Aroma Park tornado ‘by seconds,’ left to clean up devastating damage

“I honestly didn’t think we were going to come back out. It was the scariest thing ever. The glass was bursting. You could hear everything rumbling above us, Abigail Gerth said.

“We got a phone call saying that there was a tornado that had touched down, so we should go to the basement and seconds later it hit,” Gerth said.

Above them, the roof ripped off, walls caved in and were thrown into the front yard.

“I was just trying to find my son, just trying to get over,” Erin Boerschig said. “All I could think of was just get over him, so the glass didn’t hit him, but it was so loud.”

Boerschig said she went to put her car in her friend’s garage to protect it from the hail. A move she says may have saved her and her son’s lives.

“I can’t believe that we walked away. I mean, four adults, three kids, and four dogs. And I don’t think any of us even have a scratch on us. I don’t know.,” Boerschig said.

The cleanup begins but the people who live in the area say its better to deal with a big mess than mourn a life.

Jason Kent and his wife started cleaning up after braving tornado that tore through Aroma Park.

“As soon as I got down in the crawlspace, we heard like bombs going off,” Kent said. “It sounded like bombs. You heard like the hail, gumball sized hail, even bigger than that, and then you just heard all the cracking and crashing.”

Kim Green’s father owns a home and is one of the hardest hit on Norman Avenue. A good portion of the roof is gone.

“We could see the swirling in the sky,” Green said. “We were, ‘Like this is going to turn into something.’ After that the hail started.”

Record-breaking hail stones reported south, west suburbs; neighbors dealing costly damages

Reports of large-scale hail stones came pouring in from the western suburbs.

The National Weather Service said the largest hailstone produced was six inches in diameter, which fell in Kankakee. The NWS said the hailstone may be a state record for Illinois.

Golf-ball-size stones left behind a significant amount of damage, especially to vehicles in Darien.

“We had hail almost baseball size,” Don Jones said. “We have roofers coming out to look at the roof. I would tell you almost every house in this two-block area probably have roof damage.”

The record-sized hail covered people’s lawns, but it also caused damage.

Unsurprisingly, a steady stream of restoration companies were already doing the rounds early Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re helping the homeowners identify if they have any qualifying damage from the storm; educating homeowners on their insurance policies,” Bradley Parks with Pro Restoration said.

While the home damage may not have been as visible to the naked eye, the car damage was.

A Toyota Camry was dropped off at the Darien’s Collision Center with the entire rear windshield smashed to bits.

Insurance claims related to hail damage have been increasing.

It’s part of the stated reason, companies like State Farm dramatically increased rates for Illinois homeowners late last year.

SEE ALSO | State Farm defends Illinois home insurance price hike; Pritzker says its not justified