8 hospitalized after tornado rips through Chicago suburb: 'Like a bomb went off'

Facebook/Ryan Cox Puraleski

(NAPERVILLE, Ill.) -- An EF-3 tornado tore through the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, Sunday night, damaging over 130 homes and leaving 22 houses uninhabitable, fire officials said.

"It was like a bomb went off with all the debris in the streets," Ryan Puraleski told ABC News.

Eight people were hospitalized following the late-night twister. One person was critically injured but has since been upgraded to fair condition, Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said at a news conference Monday.

Some people had to be pulled from their rubble-filled homes, he said.

Everyone is expected to survive, Puknaitis said.

The tornado also downed power lines, leaving about 450 customers without power.

Severe weather, including 11 tornadoes, also struck Alabama, as Tropical Storm Claudette slammed the South.

An EF-2 tornado struck East Brewton, Alabama, injuring 20 people, according to the National Weather Service. East Brewton police said two of the injured were life-flighted to hospitals.

At least three storm-related deaths were reported in Alabama this weekend.

In Tuscaloosa, a 24-year-old man and his 3-year-old son were killed when a tree fell on top of their house, according to Capt. Marty Sellers of the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

In Fort Payne, a 22-year-old woman drowned in floodwaters Saturday night, DeKalb County coroner Tom Wilson told ABC News.

ABC News' Alice Chambers, Max Golembo and Rachel Katz contributed to this report.

Monday, June 21, 2021 at 8:16PM by Emily Shapiro and Max Golembo, ABC News Permalink