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“We are extremely fortunate that this storm did not result in
loss of life or serious injury,” Sheriff Steve Stovall said in a
statement.
The sheriff's office announced Friday evening on social media
that there would be no traffic in or out of the village until
further notice. It later said entry was “strictly restricted.”
The National Weather Service said the damage was likely caused
by a tornado and it would survey the area over the weekend.
Leo Zach, 14, had just gotten to the village's high school's
band room for a music competition when the building started
shaking and the power went out. He said the room was packed with
students and some were very scared and had panic attacks.
“I’m definitely on the luckier side of how that could’ve
happened," he said. “I was just trying to stay calm, help other
people.”
When they got outside, they found some of the windows blown out
in the gym and part of the school's roof ripped off.
Photos and video posted online showed a garage totaled, bricks
torn off of buildings and fences demolished.
Lena is a village of nearly 3,000 people, located about 117
miles (188 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.
A post on Lena's Facebook page called the scene “devastating.”
“There will be challenges ahead, but we will rebuild, recover,
and come through this stronger together,” the post said.
Rachel Nemon had been going to pick up her stepson from the
village's middle school when she had to pull into a car wash to
take cover from the storm. She watched a large tree get ripped
from the ground and sparks fly feet in front of her.
“This is something that you see online, not in real life,
especially in a small town in Illinois,” she said.
Gov. JB Pritzker said in a post on the social platform X that
he's been briefed on the damage and that the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency is on the ground.
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