Watch | Tornado forms near Chicago’s O'Hare airport, disrupting many flights

A tornado reached near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday (July 12) as hundreds of flights were disrupted. Passengers were forced to take shelter.

The National Weather Service in Chicago confirmed the presence of a tornado on the ground around 7 pm local time.

“This tornado has been touching the ground intermittently so far and is moving east. There are additional circulations along the line south of O’Hare. Seek shelter if in the warned area,” it stated.

By 8 pm, the weather service stated that the Chicago forecast area was “currently tornado warning free.” It added that the storm was travelling east toward southwest Michigan, and a tornado watch was into effect for regions of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio on Thursday.

At least eight tornadoes hit north-eastern Illinois, which included four in Cook County.

Commercial flights grounded

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departures of commercial flights at Midway and O’Hare airports.

As per FlightAware, more than 300 flights in and out of O’Hare and also 32 in and out of Midway were cancelled, with hundreds of people sheltered at O’Hare.

The video from TV stations showed hundreds of people huddled in an O’Hare concourse.

Kevin Bargnes, director of communications for O’Hare and Chicago Midway International Airport, told WGN-TV Wednesday night that no damage was reported at either airport.

Chicago resident Lynn Becker posted a video to Twitter in which sirens could be heard across the city’s skyline. “I’m in a 60-story apartment building so my options are somewhat limited. We have to, I assume, go into the core of the building," he said.

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“There’s a certain panic when you’re watching a TV screen and everything is in red … but the hope is that the damage is minimal,” he added.

Two tornado warnings for Chicago were issued by the National Weather Service on Wednesday evening.

The National Weather Service reported that roofs blew off and trees were uprooted in the Cook County town and the storm blew out car windows in La Grange. The service stated that roof and tree damage was reported due to several other twisters. The weather service was informed by an unidentified emergency manager that a roof was blown off in the community of Huntley in McHenry County.

In the past, the Chicago metropolitan area witnessed tornadoes and many have hit within the city limits, as per the weather service. Around 92 significant tornadoes were recorded by the weather service between 1855 and 2008 in the Chicago metro area.

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