A line of intense thunderstorms Friday night caused flooding and power outages across Bloomington-Normal and Mclean County. The hardest-hit areas appear to be the southern edge of Bloomington-Normal and the Le Roy and Downs areas of Southeast Mclean County. Doppler radar estimates between 2 and 4 inches of rain has fallen in the area, and much more rain could be on the way for Saturday.
The storms Friday night knocked out power to about 400 Ameren customers in the city of Bloomington at the height of the storm around 9:30 Friday night. The heavy rains also prompted a Flash Flood Warning to be issued for Mclean County until 2:45 AM Saturday morning and then extended until 4:00AM. Law enforcement and fire crews did have to rescue some motorists whose vehicles became stuck in flooded roadways.
The weather system responsible for the heavy rain is not expected to move much over the next 24-36 hours. WMBD-TV Chief Meteorologist Chris Yates predicts that supercell development could happen again Saturday in Central Illinois, fueling another round of severe weather for the area.
