Tornadoes touch down in Iowa as storms wallop 7 Midwest states

A violent storm system battered seven states in the Midwest late Wednesday, with two tornadoes touching down in northern Iowa.

In Illinois, emergency officials in Winnebago County reported several small tornadoes touched down briefly amid damaging hail and high winds. 

The storm — described by the National Weather Service as "very dangerous" because of its potential to produce tornadoes — caused transportation chaos in Chicago.

Many people left work early on Wednesday as dark clouds menaced the city skyline.

Across Illinois, several small tornadoes were reported, several of them briefly touching down. 

Meanwhile, airlines canceled more than 120 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

And Wednesday night's White Sox game was postponed, along with Northwestern University classes and finals scheduled on its Chicago and Evanston campuses. 

More than 74 million people were at risk of severe weather, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

National Weather Service officials told the Associated Press that multiple tornadoes touched down in northern Iowa, with spotters near Hampton in Franklin County reporting at least two tornadoes on the ground alongside one another.

Another tornado was reported near Belmond, north of Des Moines.

Duwayne Abel, of Belmond, said a tornado tore through his restaurant's parking lot and demolished part of the building.

"I was, oh, eight miles west of town and I looked toward town and I could see a funnel cloud, having no idea it was exactly where our restaurant was."

Abel, his wife and staff had already taken cover in a basement, and there were no customers in the restaurant at the time.

In Indiana, several northern Indiana counties remain under severe weather warnings.

Grand Rapids had issued a severe thunderstorm and flash flood watches for parts of southwest Michigan and counties near the Indiana state line.  

And the system dumped heavy rain on parts of southern Minnesota on Wednesday.