Severe weather moving across the central United States

A massive tornado ripped through the Kankakee, Illinois area Tuesday evening.

(CNN)- A massive tornado ripped through the Kankakee, Illinois area Tuesday evening, part of a widespread outbreak of severe weather tracking across the central United States overnight into Wednesday.

Video captured as the storm moved through the region shows the large tornado crossing a roadway near the community.

“There it is right there… this is right here [unintelligible] road area,” a witness said while filming the storm.

Residents nearby rushed to take cover as the dangerous system moved through.

“Everybody get in, get downstairs here, stay safe. People in their cars are crazy. I’m going downstairs now. Bye guys,” another person said in video recorded during the storm.

Before striking the Kankakee area, the same tornadic supercell produced another tornado near Pontiac, Illinois.

Meteorologists say the powerful storm system moved east across several communities in central Illinois before pushing into northern Indiana, leaving damage behind.

Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran described widespread destruction in parts of Indiana as the storm moved through.

“We have an area that a lot of homes and businesses have been hit. Power lines are down everywhere. Injuries so far have been reported as being minor injuries, but the home damage is pretty significant,” Cothran said.

The severe weather outbreak also produced extremely large hail across several states.

Some hailstones reported in Illinois were larger than five inches in diameter, which could potentially set a new state record.

Texas also saw significant storm activity, with reports of baseball-sized hail in parts of the state.

The storms also produced at least one tornado in Texas, along with tens of thousands of power outages as the system swept across the region.

Authorities across multiple states are continuing to assess damage as the severe weather threat moves east.