CHICAGO (WLS) — A massive cleanup effort is underway Thursday after a strong line of severe storms moved through the Chicago area prompting tornado warnings.

The National Weather Service confirms an EF-1 tornado touched down in Gary, Indiana. NWS teams are surveying the area to see if there were any other tornados.

Residents across the south suburbs and northwest Indiana will be getting a closer look at the damage.

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“It was really something that can’t be put into words,” Gary resident Goityra Chamberlain said. “Last night sounded like a thunderstorm times 100.”

Chamberlain said she’s in disbelief after a powerful storm wreaked havoc on her neighborhood, damaging homes, uprooting power poles and leaving power lines strewn across the ground.

She recounted the frightening and uncertain moments that storm moved through northwest Indiana last night…leaving some in the dark.

“It really just sounded horrible,” Chamberlain said. “When I looked outside it was like a motion picture. It was blurry. All you see is gray.”

The sounds of board up crews now echo throughout Goityra’s community as teams of people work to patch holes in roofs and cover windows.

“It makes me really sad and it makes me hurt for the families that were damaged by it,” Chamberlain said.

Across the street, parts of McCullough Academy’s roof now rests mangled on the ground.

The storm so strong it ripped the roof right off the elementary school’s gymnasium, leaving a gaping hole.

School leaders made the call to cancel classes for the next two days, sending students into an early spring break.

“We are praying for them because this is the area we live in,” Sharmayne McKinley, principal of McCullough Academy, said. “We are thanking God you are safe.”

District officials said they are grateful the storm hit after school had let out for the day.

Now, they are left to pick up the pieces and to determine how student learning could be impacted once spring break is over.

“We’ll be able to assess the damage, determine if the young people will be able to return to this building with the damaged area being cordoned off,” Chelsea Whittington, Gary Community School Corporation, said.

“We want to be all hands on deck to support our families,” McKinley said. “We love you all and thank God everyone is safe.”

Northwest Indiana power officials said there are still nearly 3,000 customers without power right now in these chilly conditions.

More than 16,000 customers were in the dark at one point Wednesday night, so progress is being made.

Lake County, Indiana leaders said that they are working with the Red Cross to provide shelter to those who need it.

The mayor of Gary said no serious injuries were reported from the storms.

Storms rip through south suburbs

The powerful storm also caused significant damage in the south suburbs.

Video from Steger shows what’s left of a warehouse that was torn off by the high winds.

Debris from that roof ended up on the railroad tracks.

People who hid from the storm’s path believe what they saw was a funnel cloud.

“It was just going in a circular motion down the street, it was just leaves, whatever was around it, straight down,” one resident said.

In New Lenox, a UPS tractor trailer proved no match for the powerful winds.

The storm flipped the entire tractor trailer on its side. the driver and a passenger were not hurt.

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