Stacy Broniak and neighborhood firefighter Todd Woolf look for medication and oxygen supplies at the home Stacy's grandmother in Kokomo, Indiana, on Sunday, November 17. Severe weather erupted throughout the Midwest and caused extensive damage on Sunday: 
An overturned car rests in a pile of rubble about a mile northeast of Washington, Illinois, on November 17. Washington is in central Illinois, east of Peoria. 
Maranda Souders picks up a crystal bowl and cup while searching through debris from her grandmother's home in Brookport, Illinois, after a tornado hit the small town in far southern part of the state on November 17. 
A stuffed animal lies in the road in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters survey the damage at Mintonye Elementary School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. A series of strong thunderstorms pounded Tippecanoe County, northwest of Indianapolis, on Sunday. 
The south wall was ripped off the gymnasium at Southwestern Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. 
The roof was torn off this classroom at Southwestern Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. 
A firefighter works to clear a tree from a street in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
An elderly woman is escorted through tornado debris in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
Dave Huffman sorts through his belongings in the living room of his destroyed home in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. Kokomo is almost 60 miles north of Indianapolis, the state capital. 
The roof of a building sits in the middle of the road in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. 
A car sits among the debris of a leveled home in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. 
Ray Baughman embraces family shortly after his home was destroyed by a tornado south of Peoria in Pekin, Illinois, on November 17. 
A firefighter, in lower center of photo, peers down into the home of a colleague whose home was destroyed when a tornado swept through Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters look over damage to trailers at Summit Village, east of Marion, Indiana, after storms blew through Marion and Grant County, northeast of Indianapolis, on November 17. 
The Irvington Post Office is badly damaged after heavy rain and high winds hit Indianapolis on November 17. 
Volunteers try to reposition the HVAC unit on top of Heritage Primary Elementary School in Wentzville, Missouri, on November 17. Board members, staff and teachers came to the school to help with the cleanup after a storm tore off parts of the roof. Wentzville is about 40 miles west of St. Louis. 
Richard Miller salvages items from his brother's home in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
Corn husks fly through the air as Eric Crawford checks his mail after the storm passed in rural Orchard Farm, Missouri, on November 17. 
Firefighters stretch caution tape around the New Life Tabernacle Church in Paducah, Kentucky, on November 17. 
A fallen tree blocks traffic on November 17 in Marion, Indiana. 
Water shoots from broken pipes after part of a wall and roof collapsed on November 17 at the Dollar General distribution center east of Marion, Indiana. 
Tornado victims sift through an overturned mobile home in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. A tornado ripped through the small town in southern Illinois. 
A home is damaged by a tree that was uprooted during the storm in Pekin on November 17. Pekin is part of the cluster of towns in central Illinois hit hard by the severe weather. 
Chuck Phillips looks out at the destruction that tore off part of his roof and destroyed homes in his neighborhood on November 17 in Pekin. 
A police officer talks with a resident in Pekin after a tornado touched down in the area on November 17. 
An apartment manager warns Illinois State University students to stay back from a roof that blew off "The U" student apartments in Normal, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters stand in the middle of the street after a tornado leveled at homes in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
People survey storm damage on November 17 in Hustisford, Wisconsin, which is northwest of Milwaukee. 
Billy Vestal evacuates his home in East Peoria, Illinois, with his 3-year-old daughter, Lillian Vestal, after a tornado damaged the area on November 17. 
An Ameren Illinois utility worker walks past homes looking for gas and electrical hazards in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
A damaged cattle shed sits on a family farm in Hustisford, Wisconsin, on November 17. Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joseph Meagher says no cattle were injured. 
Josh Ramsey recovers items from the house of a family friend after a tornado tore through the north end of Pekin, Illinois, on November 17. 
Members of Soldier Field's ground crew prepare the field to resume play after a severe storm blew through the area on November 17 and suspended play during the first half of the game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. 
Fans begin to clear the stands during the rain and high winds at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 17. 
Baltimore Ravens players leave the field after the game was delayed on November 17. 
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- NEW: "I don't have anything. ... It's gone," a storm victim says
- Five people are killed in Illinois, officials say
- Kokomo, Indiana, declares a state of emergency after tornado hits
- Storms destroyed 70 homes in Illinois, a state emergency official says
Are you there? Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please stay safe.
Washington, Illinois (CNN) -- Michelle Crumrine was out of town when a tornado tore through her neighborhood.
She returned to Washington, Illinois, to find pieces of her life strewn about where her house once stood.
"A lot of people have a pile of rubble still," she said, "and I don't have anything. ... It's gone. I don't know where it went."
Nearby, rescuers with flashlights trudged through the neighborhood in the dark of night, searching for signs of life in the wreckage.
As a severe weather system slammed the Midwest on Sunday, spawning tornadoes, flash floods and hail, this town of 10,000 people was among the hardest hit. A neighborhood was flattened, at least one person died and dozens in the area were injured.
Across the state, officials said five people were killed in storms.
In two communities, storms destroyed at least 70 homes, according to Jonathon Monken, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Rescuers were trying to reach people trapped in their basements, he said. One hospital in Peoria was treating 37 patients with injuries.
The outbreak also forced fans to evacuate the stands for nearly two hours during an NFL game in Chicago.
"It was complete destruction," said Anthony Khoury, who lives in Washington. "There are people in the streets crying."
As a tornado neared his home, Khoury prayed and recorded a video of the dark twister churning toward him.
"The tornado happened in my backyard, and you can hear people screaming," he told CNN's iReport. "We were freaking out."
Tornado touches down outside of Peoria 
Tornado on the ground in Illinois While his house survived the storm, Khoury said others in the neighborhood weren't as lucky.
Video from CNN affiliate WMBD showed one Washington neighborhood where a tornado smashed cars and houses, littering the ground with broken wood beams and flinging furniture and debris onto lawns, sidewalks and streets.
"I grabbed my daughter and ran," one storm survivor told WMBD.
In nearby Peoria, Mayor Jim Ardis said his city was planning to send aid to help storm recovery in Washington, where a tornado hit what he described as a "very densely populated area."
"It's just absolutely unbelievable," he said.
Jack Lance, who lives in Pekin, said he saw a lot of wreckage in his town.
"We saw trees down, houses with their roofs completely torn off. I saw a lot of people in distress with their homes destroyed," he said. "It wasn't a pretty sight."
Officials delayed the NFL game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens for nearly two hours as storms approached Chicago, warning spectators to leave the stands at Soldier Field and head for covered areas.
"The rain started coming, the skies got black, the wind was insane, and they evacuated us to underneath the concrete concourse," said Jim Arnold, who was at the game with his 11-year-old daughter.
"We've been through 15-degree-below weather and winds, but never anything like this," Arnold said. "The winds gusted at 70 mph, and the winds and the rain were horizontal and everybody was running. It was just crazy."
Fans returned to their seats and the game resumed mid-afternoon after the storm passed.
But other parts of the region still faced the threat of more severe weather, forecasters warned.
Tornado watches remained in place for parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
"These storms having been moving so fast today, it's been hard to keep up," said storm chaser Tony Laubach, who spoke to CNN as he watched a tornado touch down outside Lebanon, Indiana.
In Illinois, two deaths were reported in Nashville; one in Washington; one near Brookport; and one near Unionville, according to officials.
Monken said there were at least 11 confirmed tornado touchdowns, and officials there expect the number of storm-related injuries to grow.
In Oak Lawn, a wind gust of 86 mph was recorded as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area.
At least six trucks overturned on highways about 80 miles west of Chicago due to high winds, the Ogle County Sheriff's Office said.
In a Twitter post, Indiana State Police shared a photo of twisted metal, piles of debris and the shell of a school building.
Many people are without power across the state, police said.
Storms damaged a mall and a bank and collapsed the roof of a fire station in Kokomo, Indiana, said Larry Smith, emergency management director in Howard County.
Some houses had their roofs torn off when a tornado hit the area, he said.
Officials in Kokomo declared a state of emergency and closed schools for Monday, according to the city's Twitter account.
Incredible footage of a tornado in Washington, Illinois
This is a particularly dangerous situation, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin released Sunday morning.
CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis said the weather outbreak came later in the year than some might expect.
"The primary time for tornadoes, as we well know, is springtime. Then we see a second high that comes in the fall," she said. "Is this late? It is rather late, because the temperatures have been very warm."
A "very vigorous" low-pressure system is moving across the Great Lakes, she said.
"On the backside of that, temperatures are dramatically cooler. So that cold air is filtering in behind it, warm air out ahead of it," she said. "And...we get some twisting motion in the atmosphere. And that's why we see this tornadic activity."
CNN's Ted Rowlands reported from Washington, Illinois. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Steve Almasy reported from Atlanta. CNN's George Howell, Sean Morris, Fredricka Whitfield, Don Lemon, Dave Alsup, Jareen Imam, David Ruff, Taylor Ward, Janet DiGiacomo, Dave Alsup and Rick Martin contributed to this report.
