Tornadoes forced thousands of travelers to take shelter on the ground floor of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday evening.
Local news reporter Hannah Follman captured the harrowing ordeal, showing scores of passengers and personnel huddled together in an underground hallway after a tornado formed over the airport, prompting one social media user to remark, “This is my hell, I think.”
Current look at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Shelter in place for several tornadoes! Stay safe out there🤍 pic.twitter.com/Tb8cCEd1uY
— Hannah Follman (@HannahFollmanTV) July 13, 2023
Video of the tornado itself aired on local outlet NBC 5 along with commentary from meteorologist Brant Miller. The footage shows a “broad rotation ahead of a cleared sky” in the vicinity of the airport with the National Weather Service in Chicago confirming the tornado was making intermittent contact with the ground and moving east.
Chicago resident Lynn Becker captured video of the storm and the blaring sirens from his 60-story apartment building in the city. “There’s a certain panic when you’re watching a TV screen and everything is in red … but the hope is that the damage is minimal,” Becker told The Associated Press (AP). (RELATED: Los Angeles Sees Strongest Tornado In 40 Years)
Becker added that being in a high-rise apartment building left shelter-in-place options somewhat limited. “We have to, I assume, go into the core of the building,” he stated.
While there were no immediate reports of injuries, the tornado did disrupt flight schedules, with 169 flights canceled due to the severe weather and around 500 delayed, NPR reported.