By: Connie Esparza

For families across Illinois, the spring and summer of 2026 brought one storm after another.

Tornadoes. Damaging winds. Flash flooding. Record-breaking rainfall. Days without power.

By mid-summer, more than 200 tornadoes had been reported across Illinois, surpassing the previous state record of 142 set in 2024. Communities barely had time to recover before another round of severe weather arrived.

Behind every statistic was a family whose life had suddenly changed.

For Aaliyah, that moment came as severe weather tore through her community. With sirens sounding and debris and trees coming down around her, her first thoughts were of her children, and then her neighbors.

“My mommy instinct kicked in, and all I could think about was getting to safety and helping my neighbors get to safety too.”

She watched as her building collapsed. In an instant, the place her family called home was gone.

“All I could think about was having to start over.”

But amid the devastation, Aaliyah also saw something powerful: people showing up for one another.

Neighbors checked on neighbors. Families helped each other reach safety. And Red Cross volunteers were there to provide a safe place to stay, meals, resources, and a compassionate presence as families began confronting the uncertainty of what came next.

“Seeing that gave me hope that we were going to be okay,” Aaliyah shared.

Showing Up—Again and Again

Aaliyah’s experience was repeated in communities across Illinois throughout an extraordinary summer.

When powerful storms swept through the state on June 10 and 11, more than 211,000 customers- approximately 633,000 people- were without power at the peak. At least 10 counties reported damage following consecutive days of severe weather.

Red Cross volunteers mobilized across the state, opening shelters, serving meals, distributing emergency supplies, and working alongside emergency officials and community partners to reach those most in need.

As extreme heat compounded prolonged power outages, teams helped connect vulnerable residents with cooling centers, transportation, shelters, and other resources.

During the June response alone, the Red Cross and its partners provided nearly 4,800 meals and snacks and approximately 3,100 emergency relief supplies to 260 households. More than 720 damage assessments were completed in some of the hardest-hit areas, identifying more than 160 homes with major damage or that had been destroyed. More than 1,300 people received relief and recovery services, including financial assistance.

Then the storms came again.

Communities Hit More Than Once

In July, five more tornadoes were reported across Cook, DuPage and Vermilion counties, accompanied by damaging winds and hail. More than 187,000 customers representing more than 560,000 people were without power following the storms.

Red Crossers again answered the call.

They opened shelters. They drove into neighborhoods delivering warm meals. They brought food to a senior living community without power. They distributed emergency supplies and connected families with resources. Damage assessment teams traveled through some of the hardest-hit communities, including Crete, Steger, Chicago Heights and Hazel Crest, helping determine where assistance was needed most.

More Than a Shelter

For families suddenly facing displacement, a Red Cross shelter offered more than a roof overhead. It offered a place to catch their breath, find a warm meal, connect with resources, and encounter someone ready to listen.

For Aaliyah, it was also a place where she could begin processing what had happened and think about what came next.

“Being here at the shelter is a blessing. The Red Crossers have been a source of comfort and support, and I’ve learned to stay calm knowing that my family and I have support as we look at the road to recovery.”

That support is at the heart of every Red Cross disaster response.

It is a volunteer handing a family a warm meal. A disaster health services worker helping someone replace medication lost in the storm. A volunteer driving through an impacted neighborhood with emergency supplies. A compassionate person sitting beside a mother who has just watched her family’s world change in minutes.

Throughout this relentless stretch of severe weather, Red Cross volunteers kept answering the call, often at a moment’s notice and sometimes returning to communities that had already been impacted multiple times.

They couldn’t stop the storms. But they could show up. They could care. And they could make sure families like Amora’s and Aaliyah’s didn’t have to face what came next alone.

You Can Help Us Be There

Disasters don’t wait until it’s convenient, and neither do Red Cross volunteers.

When the next tornado touches down, the next flood forces a family from their home or the next community needs help, the Red Cross must be ready. That readiness is made possible by people who choose to help.

You can be one of them.

Help people affected by disasters like floods, fires and countless other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small, whenever and wherever they occur across the country. Visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a donation.

Or consider joining the volunteers who make this work possible. Whether serving meals, supporting a shelter, delivering emergency supplies or helping families begin their recovery, your time and compassion can make a difference when someone is having one of the hardest days of their life.

Become a Red Cross volunteer

Because when disaster turns someone’s world upside down, showing up matters. And together, we can make sure no one faces those difficult days alone.