Tornadoes reportedly strike Springfield area

I saw this on the ABC7 10 o'clock news. The storm down there disrupted a session of the General Assembly where anyone who was at the state house were forced to take cover in the basement. Apparently a tornado was reported to have touched down but there was no touch down. Here's a write up from Channel 7 on the activity in the state capitol:

An unconfirmed twister touched down near Fifth and Cedar streets. The sirens near the capitol went off around 6:15 p.m. Legislators working on a state budget were all sent to the basement of the capitol building.

The alarm came as the House was in mid-debate. Lawmakers dropped the subject of healthier food in school cafeterias and followed the orders of statehouse guards who herded them downstairs.

The tunnels beneath the 120-year-old building were packed with people for about 45 minutes. The speaker of the House, lieutenant governor and president of Southern Illinois University mingled with lobbyists, reporters and secretaries.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich was nowhere to be seen. Aides said he was in a secure location.
...
The House returned to work briefly, then canceled the rest of the evening's session amid worries about another storm front in the area. There was no immediate word on the Senate's plans.

"The House shall be in order. There's work to be done," said the presiding officer, Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago.

Meanwhile back in Chicago, I can't say we had that type of action here on the southside but at about 7PM the skies up here sure had an unusual look. Almost as if something was about to happen. It's been a very wet day today with a brief break between 2 and 5 o'clock this afternoon.

Oh and I should add if you're on this blog enough you can always check weather information with the widget to the left. Of course if you'd like more you can always check accuweather.com!