Severe Storms Hit Chicago Area, Force Fans To Take Cover At Copa America Match
CHICAGO (CBSNewYork/CBS Chicago) -- Fans had to take cover during the Copa America soccer match at Chicago's Soldier Field Wednesday evening, as severe storms swept through the area.
Shortly after 8 p.m. Central Time, fans at the semifinal match between Colombia and Chile were told to leave their seats and take shelter in the lower level concourse at the stadium due to severe lightning and thunder.
About 50,000 people were in the stadium for the soccer match, WBBM-TV, CBS2 Chicago's Lauren Victory reported. The notifications on the loudspeaker were issued in English and Spanish, and extra emergency personnel were dispatched.
Live Coverage From CBS2 Chicago
Severe storms soaked the downtown Loop with torrential rain by the mid-evening hours, WBBM-CBS2 Meteorologist Ed Curran reported.
By 9:35 p.m. local time Wednesday, the rain had stopped in downtown Chicago, and just before 10 p.m. Chicago time, officials announced that the game would resume, WBBM-CBS2's Sandra Torres reported. But some people left Soldier Field well before that.
Photos at the scene showed flooded concourses as some people left the stadium. A video clip tweeted by Mario Andres Luna showed water cascading down a stairway at Soldier Field like a waterfall.
Chicago's Navy Pier was also closed due to the storm.
A tornado watch was in effect for the entire Chicago area and much of the rest of downstate and western Illinois Wednesday night, and a tornado warning was issued for some central Illinois counties.
Late Wednesday in Pontiac, Illinois far southwest of Chicago, a tornado damaged several buildings, including a trailer park and a gas station. There was no immediate word on injuries, CBS Chicago reported.
The National Weather Service also confirmed a tornado touched down east of Amboy in downstate Lee County, Illinois. Numerous other reports of funnel clouds and tornadoes were reported in LaSalle County, Illinois.
A funnel cloud was also reported closer to the city of Chicago in the south Chicago suburb of Harvey, and a fire broke out when lightning struck a store in Griffith, Indiana southeast of Chicago, CBS2's Curran reported.
Winds in excess of 50 mph and hail of sizes of 0.3 to 0.8 inch in diameter were reported in some Chicago suburban areas, CBS2's Curran reported.
Hail as large as 2.5 inches in diameter or more could be associated with the storm, Curran reported.
A funnel cloud was also reported closer to the city of Chicago in the south Chicago suburb of Harvey, and a fire broke out when lightning struck a store in Griffith, Indiana southeast of Chicago, CBS2's Curran reported.
The storms were poised to head eastward, though the bulk of the system will likely strike south of New York City. CBS2's Lonnie Quinn forecast that the New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey are only under a marginal – or 10 to 20 percent – threat of severe weather while southern New Jersey was under a 20 to 30 percent, or slight, risk.
