Thunderstorms that punched through northern Illinois overnight Wednesday caused significant wind damage, mainly in rural areas west and south of Chicago.

Kankakee County was hard hit with at least three tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service.
A church under construction was torn down. And a horse was killed when a barn collapsed.

The National Weather Service says intense winds estimated to have reached 70-80 mph in some areas snapped large trees at their trunks or uprooted them entirely. Barns were destroyed in northern Kankakee County.

In Iroquois County, two funnel clouds were reported near Martinton. That prompted sirens to sound in Martinton and Donovan.

The storms that began Wednesday afternoon produced hail and heavy rain that caused some flash flooding. There were also reports of possible tornados from police and trained storm observers, including in the village of Paw Paw in Lee County and to the north in the Rockford area.  Nearly 11,000 customers were still without power Thursday.

Weather service meteorologist Richard Castro says Chicago was largely spared because the intense line of thunderstorms formed to the south and east.

94.1 FM,. WGFA