What to know after tornadoes tore through Chicago area suburbs

<p>Powerful storms that swept across the Chicago area Monday left neighborhoods in the south suburbs picking up the pieces after five tornadoes touched down — damaging homes, uprooting trees and adding to what has already been an active tornado season in Illinois.</p><p>An EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 110 mph impacted Lansing, according to the National Weather Service. The fifth tornado, an EF-0 that touched down just south of Wheaton College, <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/weather/2026/07/29/5th-tornado-confirmed-monday-storms-national-weather-service" >was confirmed only Wednesday</a>.</p><p>Rob Griffin, a Lansing resident, told the Sun-Times he underestimated the severity of the storm that hit his far south suburb.</p><p>"Even though they had the sirens on and sent alerts to our phones, I kind of ignored it because most times they do that as more of a warning," Griffin said.