The National Weather Service says one of the tornadoes that struck northern Illinois was an EF-4.
Officials with the National Weather Service in Chicago released the preliminary report Monday afternoon. State Climatologist Jim Angel says the EF-4 tornado that tracked through Rochelle and Fairdale Thursday evening is the first tornado of that magnitude to touch down in Illinois since 1981. Angel says there have only been 33 tornadoes designated as EF-4's since 1950. The National Weather Service says the tornado was responsible for two deaths and 22-injuries along with significant property loss.
Friday, Governor Bruce Rauner declared DeKalb and Ogle counties as state disaster areas. Rauner issued the declarations after touring the tornado and storm damaged region of northern Illinois.
Rauner told reporters Friday morning that two people had died. He was surveying damage in region. The first victim in Fairdale was identified as 67-year-old Geraldine M. Schultz. Roughly a dozen other people were injured Thursday after at least one tornado swept through tiny Fairdale.
The identity of the second person had not been released on Friday.
Dozens of homes and businesses were also destroyed. The state has started damage assessment flights around the hardest hit areas. One of those is the small farming community of Fairdale. The state disaster declaration makes available several state resources that will help communities respond and recover from the storms.
Fairdale's an unincorporated town of about 150, about 80 miles northwest of Chicago.
