Tornado Man Rescued
Streator Tornadoes Cause Extensive Damage, Disrupt Travel; Storm Chaser Helps Rescue Trapped Man
Key Points
NOAA’s preliminary assessment put the number of tornadoes in the US during May at 168, according to a BBC report citing NOAA.
At Chicago’s Midway Airport, air traffic controllers reportedly had to evacuate their tower because of a tornado warning—beyond the broader flight delays/cancellations.
Streator City Hall said residents should limit access to damaged areas so “emergency personnel, utility crews, and public works staff” could work “safely and efficiently,” and it also said the city “doesn’t need additional volunteers to help with clean up efforts.”
In its statement to families, Streator Elementary School District wrote: “We know that some of our own staff and families are among those impacted, and we will be working closely with them to offer any support we can.”
Lasker told CBS News Chicago that after he started trying to free the trapped man, the woman “used his camera to continue filming.”
A storm chaser filming tornadoes in Streator, Illinois, on Thursday ended up saving a man's life. Scott Lasker was rolling video when he heard a woman screaming that her husband was trapped under rubble. He dropped what he was doing and dug the man out. BBC reported that multiple tornadoes tore through the Midwest that evening, with at least 10 distinct tornado reports in Illinois alone.
Streator Mayor Tara Bedei confirmed no fatalities in the city. One death was reported in Iowa, caused by a falling tree, according to BBC. The storms also forced air traffic controllers at Chicago's Midway Airport to evacuate their tower and disrupted flights across the region.
Storm Chaser Becomes First Responder in South Streator
Lasker was filming in South Streator when a tornado touched down near his position around 6:03 PM CDT. Minutes later, he heard a woman screaming about 100 yards away. Her husband was pinned under a heavy door inside their leveled home. Lasker told CBS News Chicago: "I tried to lift a heavy door off the man's leg, and gave him a little comfort, and then the police showed up."
Lasker handed his camera to the woman so he could use both hands to free her husband. She kept filming while he worked. Police and emergency crews arrived and took over the rescue. Officials said the man's injuries were not life-threatening. The moment captured a rare overlap between disaster journalism and hands-on rescue work, according to BBC.
Midway Tower Evacuated as Tornadoes Swept Toward Chicago
The storm system was massive. Tornado warnings stretched from LaSalle and Livingston Counties all the way to Chicago's western suburbs, hitting areas like South Elgin and Wheaton. Around 7:00 PM CDT, air traffic controllers at Midway Airport had to leave their tower due to an imminent tornado threat. Off-site controllers took over operations, according to BBC.
The disruption triggered a wave of flight delays and cancellations at Midway. A Chicago White Sox game was also postponed. The National Weather Service had issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" tornado warning earlier in the evening — the agency's highest-level alert — for the Streator and Dwight areas, according to CBS News Chicago.
City Blocks Volunteers While Red Cross Opens Shelter
Streator City Hall moved quickly after the storms passed. Officials opened a reunification center and the American Red Cross set up a shelter at a local church. But the city sent a clear message to residents wanting to help: stay away. City Hall said it "doesn't need additional volunteers to help with clean up efforts" so that emergency personnel, utility crews, and public works staff could work "safely and efficiently."
Streator Elementary School District also reached out to families. The district wrote: "We know that some of our own staff and families are among those impacted, and we will be working closely with them to offer any support we can." The statement signaled that recovery would extend well into the summer for many in the community, per BBC.
A Deadly Tornado Season Surges Into June
The Streator outbreak came after an already active stretch of severe weather. NOAA's preliminary count put US tornadoes in May 2026 at 168, according to BBC. The June 11 storms added reports across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin in a single evening. Lasker estimated the Streator tornado was at least an EF-2 in strength. National Weather Service survey teams were on the ground to confirm the rating.
Streator has been hit before. An EF-2 tornado destroyed 36 homes in the city's southern neighborhoods on June 5, 2010 — the same area struck this week. Older housing stock in that part of the city remains especially vulnerable to high winds, which likely worsened the damage seen on Thursday, according to CBS News Chicago.
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