Tornadoes pummel communities outside Chicago, leveling homes and ripping down power poles

At least three tornadoes battered communities outside Chicago, leveling homes and ripping down trees and power poles, while storms grounded flights and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands in the Midwest and Northeast. As a large funnel cloud swept through Merrillville, a town about 33 miles (53 kilometers) southeast of Chicago, the city's police department warned residents to “TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.” Meanwhile, the nearby manufacturing and farm city of Streator set up a fami