STORY: Cleanup is underway in the village of Lena, Illinois, after a suspected tornado tore through the community, damaging homes, buildings and knocking out power to at least 16,000 customers, according to officials.

Crews and residents spent the day clearing debris, cutting fallen trees and working around downed power lines left behind by Friday’s storm.

Homes across Lena suffered damage, with decks ripped away, roofs torn open and metal debris scattered through neighborhoods.

Roadways were blocked in several areas as utility workers worked to restore electricity.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security posted on X the storm was a tornado and reported at least 16,000 customers were without power on Friday across the area and counties in western Illinois.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: LENA, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (APRIL 18, 2026) (STRINGR.COM – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED HOUSES

2. WORKERS AND VEHICLE NEAR DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES

3. PEOPLE ON THE ROOF OF A DAMAGED HOUSE

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LENA VILLAGE TRUSTEE,TILLIE COOMBER, SAYING:

"It lasted about 9 minutes total. And it was devastating to our town. Fortunately, no one, no fatalities, no one died, which is absolutely fantastic."

5. DEBRIS ON ROOF

6. DAMAGED DECK

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOMAN HELPING CLEAN UP DAMAGES AT BROTHER IN LAW'S HOUSE,TINA DIDDENS, SAYING:

"Well, he lost his deck, and there's quite a few people that lost, a couple I heard, lost their homes. A lot of roofs and sheds are down, so it's a mess. The school, they have trouble."

8. LENA-WINSLOW JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SIGN

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, KAIYA CHRISTENSEN, SAYING:

"A lot of windows were broken in our weight room. The awning that we have in front of the high school doors was ripped. The sign that we had was wrapped around a tree outside. A lot of the trees in the parking lot fell. It was a lot of water. The lights went out. There is quite a few holes in our gymnasium floor. A lot of water was coming in and our office, I know, I'm pretty sure, also caved in. We were kind of evacuated. We were let go slowly throughout the high school doors and if we had a car, we were allowed to drive. If not, we had to wait for a parent to come pick us up."

10. VARIOUS OF SIGN WRAPPED AROUND A TREE/ DEBRIS NEARBY

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF BANDS AT LENA-WINSLOW SCHOOL DISTRICT, RENEE SCHULTZ, SAYING:

"Yesterday we were starting to host our IHSA (Illinois High School Association) organizational state contest and we had a few schools here already and we had to shelter in place when the storm hit."

12. SNAPPED TREE BRANCH

13. MAN CUTTING DOWN BROKEN BRANCHES

14. VARIOUS OF DOWNED TREES CUT INTO PIECES

15. DOWNED POLE

16. BUILDING WITH DAMAGED SIDING

17. VARIOUS OF METAL SHEETS SCATTERED NEXT TO BUILDING

18. DAMAGED METAL SHEETS IN A TRAILER