Terrified passengers stuck in O'Hare airport as tornadoes swarm the area: Video

Under the neon lights of Michael Hayden’s “ Sky’s the Limit ” art piece in O’Hare International Airport Terminal 1, people gathered to shelter in place Monday night, per videos shared on social media.

“I’m currently at the Chicago airport and we have been asked to shelter in place. I really miss California,” said one X user who shared a video. An Instagram user quoted by the Daily Mai l also shared footage of the packed corridor.

Throughout the Chicagoland area , people received blaring warnings on their phones about severe weather tearing through the region. They were told to get away from windows as multiple tornadoes reportedly touched down.

These storms began at around 9 p.m. Monday, with wins gusts as high as 100 mph reported. Aftermath of the stormy weather was still impacting roads Tuesday.

“Last night’s severe weather conditions, including a tornado struck O’Hare. Many thanks to our public safety personnel / emergency mgmt team for their response and guidance, keeping our passengers and employees calm and safe,” said a Tuesday X post from O’Hare .

Courtney Mares, a correspondent for the Catholic News Agency shared that she was also stalled at O’Hare Monday night, but in a plane rather than a terminal.

“Our plane is sitting on the runway at Chicago O’Hare right now while everyone’s phones receive multiple tornado warnings,” she wrote in an X post . “Captain announced that air traffic control and ground control have evacuated. Plane is shaking as it is blown back and forth by the wind.”

She also shared video showing the airport runways from a plane window.

“There has been a lot of lightning. Plane is still rocking back and forth,” said Mares in a follow-up X post. American Airlines responded to her posts , writing: “We’ll get the plane up to a gate and everyone off just as soon as the conditions allow. Thank you for your understanding.”

According to USA Today , hundreds of passengers were stranded across O’Hare and Midway International Airport, another airport in the Chicago area. The outlet also cited social media videos.

“Multiple flights arriving and departing from both O’Hare and Midway Monday night during the severe storm warnings were delayed or canceled , according to the airports’ records,” said the report.

WBBM reported Tuesday that the storms were “something different” than a typical Chicago summer storm, according to National Weather Service Chicago Meteorologist David King. He said that people monitoring the storm even had to take shelter briefly.

“What makes this one pretty unique was just how strong it was, and the potential rotation track,” King said. “We issued 14 tornado warnings and eight severe thunderstorm warnings overnight.”

King said the meteorologists were working to confirm where these tornadoes actually happened as of Tuesday.