Tornadoes, hail, strong winds sweep through Midwest

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An intense and dangerous storm system rolled through the Midwest and into the Northeast on Thursday, leveling houses and a restaurant west of Chicago, local officials and the National Weather Service said.

The tiny town of Fairdale, Illinois, with about 300 people located about 75 miles (120 km) northwest of Chicago, suffered extensive damage, according to Les Bellah, the village president in nearby Kirkland.

"I sent all our equipment there to help - backhoes, generators," said Bellah. He said he had heard there might have been injuries but did not have details.

Damage was also reported in and around Rochelle, Illinois, about 81 miles (130 km) west of Chicago, according to Rochelle Councilman Bill Hayes.

"There's some houses that have been completely destroyed," Hayes said. He saw a tornado touch down while he was driving and raced off to warn people in its path.

Hayes said Grubsteakers Restaurant in Rochelle was hit by the storm. People were rescued from the basement, according to local media reports.

A tornado watch was in place for the entire Chicago area until 11 p.m. local time due to numerous tornado warnings west of the city, the weather service said.

More than 735 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport because of the weather, the airport said.

Storm spotters reported two tornadoes each in Peoria and Lee, Illinois, along with twisters in Clinton and Scott, Iowa, according to the weather service.

Emergency management officials in Clinton, Iowa, said they did not know the extent of the damage from a tornado that went through the eastern Iowa town at about 5:45 p.m.

The storm front brought with it strong winds that destroyed barns, uprooted trees and took down power lines as well as golf ball- and baseball-sized hail in the Midwest and Northeast United States, the weather service said.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said he had activated the state's incident response center to be ready to help if needed.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Sandra Maler, Eric Walsh and Ken Wills)