8 hospitalized after EF-3 tornado rips through Chicago suburb: 'Like a bomb went off'

The twister has left 22 houses uninhabitable.

June 21, 2021, 5:02 PM

An EF-3 tornado tore through the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, Sunday night, damaging over 130 homes and leaving 22 houses uninhabitable, fire officials said.

"It was like a bomb went off with all the debris in the streets," Ryan Puraleski told ABC News.

Damage to homes after a storm passed through Naperville, Illinois, June 21, 2021.
Ryan Cox Puraleski/Facebook
A home on the 1800 block of Princeton Circle is leveled after an overnight tornado swept through the area in Naperville, Ill., June 21, 2021.
Paul Valade/Daily Herald via AP

Eight people were hospitalized following the late-night twister. One person was critically injured but has since been upgraded to fair condition, Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said at a news conference Monday.

Some people had to be pulled from their rubble-filled homes, he said.

An aerial photo made with a drone shows damage after a tornado hit in a neighborhood in Naperville, Il., June 21, 2021.
Tannen Maury/EPA via Shutterstock
Debris is scattered after storm passed through Naperville, Illinois, June 21, 2021.
Ryan Cox Puraleski/Facebook

Everyone is expected to survive, Puknaitis said.

The tornado also downed power lines, leaving about 450 customers without power.

People search for belongings and clean up after a tornado hit in a neighborhood in Naperville, Il., June 21, 2021.
Tannen Maury/EPA via Shutterstock
Woodridge, Ill., resident Jesse Wallace points out one of the severely damaged homes to his three-year-old son Chris Wallace, after a tornado passed through the area, June 21, 2021.
Shafkat Anowar/AP

Severe weather, including 11 tornadoes, also struck Alabama, as Tropical Storm Claudette slammed the South.

An EF-2 tornado struck East Brewton, Alabama, injuring 20 people, according to the National Weather Service. East Brewton police said two of the injured were life-flighted to hospitals.

Debris covers the street in East Brewton, Ala., June 19, 2021, after a suspected tornado spurred by Tropical Storm Claudette battered at least 50 homes in the small town just north of the Florida border.
Alicia Jossey via AP

At least three storm-related deaths were reported in Alabama this weekend.

In Tuscaloosa, a 24-year-old man and his 3-year-old son were killed when a tree fell on top of their house, according to Capt. Marty Sellers of the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

In Fort Payne, a 22-year-old woman drowned in floodwaters Saturday night, DeKalb County coroner Tom Wilson told ABC News.

ABC News' Alice Chambers, Max Golembo and Rachel Katz contributed to this report.

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