(June 12): Authorities removed a tornado warning for Chicago and nearby areas as the worst of the threat had passed by late Thursday local time, though disruption to air travel and power supply persisted across the region.
“The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer appears capable of producing a tornado,” the National Weather Service said in a statement.
Tornado watches remain in effect across parts of Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, while flood watches are active in Iowa, according to the National Weather Service. Through Thursday, more than 9.1 million people, including residents of Chicago, face a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms capable of producing hail and tornadoes, the US Storm Prediction Center said.
Over the last two days, 428 filtered reports of hail, damaging winds and tornadoes have been logged across the Midwest, per the Storm Prediction Center.
As of just before 11pm Eastern Time, 1,474 flights were cancelled around the US, with 882 leaving or arriving at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where the Federal Aviation Administration warned of delays because of thunderstorms. Another 166 flights passing through New York’s LaGuardia Airport were canceled as the storm’s impacts rippled across the air travel network.
In addition, nearly 600,000 homes and businesses were without power in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia and Pennsylvania as of 11pm Eastern Time, according to PowerOutage.com.
See also: Wrought in stone
In 2025, severe storms caused US$51 billion in insured losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute website. Total economic losses exceeded US$68 billion, the industry group said. It was the third straight year with losses of more than US$50 billion, “more than any other category of natural disaster”.
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