Midwest slammed by severe storms

Forecasters have told residents of the US state of Illinois to brace for the most powerful storm to hit the region in over 70 years, as heavy rain and strong winds begin to slam the area.

Tornado warnings were issued across areas from the state of Arkansas to Illinois’s metropolitan hub of Chicago.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were also announced across the Midwestern US.

Authorities temporarily stopped flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Tuesday due to high winds.

Morning commuters in the city faced blustery rain that flipped umbrellas inside out and snapped some of them in half.

“It’s not too crazy yet, but you can feel that the wind is coming,” Chicago resident Alexis Robertson told the BBC.

The National Weather Service said winds in the city’s suburb of Lombard were reaching more than 50mph (80km/h).

The energy company ComEd was already trying to restore power to roughly 5,600 customers in Illinois on Tuesday, said spokesman Bennie Currie.

The large storm continues to plow across the US, moving from North and South Dakota to the eastern Great Lakes, on the border with Canada.

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