Tornadoes touch down in north central Illinois, several injuries

CHICAGO, June 23 (UPI) -- Several people, including two children, were injured after tornadoes touched down across parts of Illinois late Wednesday.

National Weather Service survey crews were sent out early Thursday to investigate areas near Marseilles, Seneca, and Pontiac. Illinois Emergency Management Agency said there have been reports of damages to homes and businesses.

Two children who were inside a mobile home during the strong storms were treated for minor injuries. A man was taken to a local hospital with a dislocated shoulder after his truck was toppled by the storm.

"As soon as it was over with, I walked outside and I saw the shed blown against the tree and I saw the tree down. Next thing I knew people were saying one of the trailers was missing. I ran down there, shut the gas off on the trailer and just tried to help the people get out," said Charles Hendershott, who lives in Sterling Estates Mobile Home Park, where two people were injured.

Emergency workers said some of the hardest hit areas were in rural Illinois but early weather warnings allowed residents to take shelter quickly. Seneca Deputy Fire Chief Kett Johnson said no one was injured in the town of about 2,400 residents in north central Illionois.

"It's a rural area out there. It's corn fields, bean fields that are out there and stuff. Basically it's lucky because we have a resort out here. That's called Wood Smoke Ranch. They have 1,500 lots that have campers and trailers on there. It went a half mile just to the north of that. If it would have hit there, it would have been a totally a different situation," he said.

The storm also blew across Chicago, bringing heavy rain, hail and lightening. Some 50,000 soccer fans took cover at Soldier Field during the Copa America semi-final between Chile and Colombia.