CHICAGO (WLS) — Severe weather is in the forecast for the Chicago area Wednesday, including a risk of large tornadoes.
The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for Grundy, LaSalle and Livingston counties in effect until 3 p.m.
The Storm Prediction Center has areas far to the south of Chicago in Kankakee County in Illinois and Newton and Jasper counties in northwest Indiana under a Level 4 risk for severe weather Wednesday.
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The South Side of Chicago and southern suburbs are under a Level 3 risk for severe weather and the North Side and northern suburbs are under a Level 2 risk.
A line of showers and storms will move in through 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. ABC7 Accuweather Meteorologist Tracy Butler said the severe threat of the first wave is low, but there is a threat of flash floods. Butler said by noon, as much as two inches of rain may have fallen in some areas.
The entire Chicago area will be under under a Flood Watch from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Butler said the highest risk of severe weather will come in the mid-t0late afternoon and evening, from 2-9 p.m. Butler said the risk includes high winds up to 75-miles-per-hour as well as a risk for large tornadoes south of I-80.
Storms come as tornado cleanup continues
Many areas are still reeling from recent tornadoes as the next round of storms comes in.
The threat of more bad weather couldn’t come at a worse time.
People are still struggling to clean up and recover from last week’s tornadoes.
They’re now worried what will come next
It’s expected to be another challenging day for people in Merrillville, Indiana as they clean up after weathering an EF-2 tornado with winds up to 135 miles-per-hour.
The storm caused extensive damage to hundreds of homes and local structures.
Fortunately, no serious injuries have been reported.
NIPSCO is still working to restore service to those who lost power. Most of those impacted are in Merrillville.
Joe and Marlene Trevino survived the storm, but lost their home to the tornado and say more bad weather will make it even harder to recover.
“I came out of our garage, and all the debris are all over, and I can’t believe our house is gone just like that, you know? I’m just under three minutes– gone,” Marlene said.
“Things were tough and tight as it was, and then now we got this,” Joe said.
Local officials are obviously on alert as well.
There’s a tornado recovery website at merrillville.in.gov/tornado, is available for people in Merrillville with helpful resources, especially as this next round of storms heads our way.
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