Illinois, Weather | featured news

For most of the U.S., Hurricane Isaac has come and gone, and now Southerners and Midwesterners are grappling with the good and bad it left behind. Evacuation orders eased for parts of Louisiana, and many Missouri residents saw the possible end of a long and painful drought when Isaac passed over the state Friday and Saturday, dumping much of its strength before going on to Illinois and Indiana.

More than 2.1 million people from Illinois to Virginia remained without power Monday morning after violent storms struck over the weekend, and a heat wave continued to blanket much of the region.

Relatives of tornado victims in southern Illinois are bracing for another storm system as they pick through the rubble of their loved ones' homes. Darrell Osman's mother was among six people killed by the tornado that leveled whole blocks in Harrisburg. He said Thursday that it is frustrating to hear more storms are predicted. Osman was searching for his mother's belongings and he fears possessions exposed by the first storm could be ruined by rain.

A powerful system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes early Wednesday laid waste to small towns in Illinois and Kansas while also roughing up the resort town of Branson, Mo.

A tornado touched down in central Illinois Saturday, police said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.