Crowds of passengers took shelter inside O'Hare Airport as hundreds of flights are delayed amid severe storms, tornado warnings: 'I have never seen anything like this'

• Storms and tornadoes are battering central US states like Illinois, Indiana, and Arkansas.

• Flights were grounded at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport.

• Photos on social media show crowds of people sheltering in place at O'Hare.

Crowds of travelers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport sheltered inside the airport's Tunnel of Lights as hundreds of flights were canceled due to weather in the area, social media posts show.

As storms hammer the central US region, flights were grounded at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

As of Friday evening, 281 flights were canceled at O'Hare, while 129 have been canceled at Midway. Both airports released a statement Friday evening telling travelers to "exercise caution."

Kaitlyn Hoch, a traveler heading to Cleveland, Ohio, from O'Hare, told Insider that her flight was supposed to leave at 6:37 p.m., but was canceled due to the weather. While waiting to board at the United Club, Hoch said staff asked people to evacuate to the Tunnel of Lights, a tunnel that connects the United concourses at the airport.

Hoch said that there could have been a couple hundred people that were crowded in the tunnel as they waited out the storm. Hoch described the crowd as "super chill and relaxed" and said many people were taking photos and videos of the scene.

"I fly into ORD almost every Friday," Hoch told Insider. "I have never seen anything like this. I fly to a new state each week and have never seen this at any airport."

The CDA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

So far, over 40 preliminary tornado reports have been made as of Friday evening across six states, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Hundreds of thousands of residents were also without power.

The severe storms resulted in multiple people sustaining injuries after a roof collapsed during a concert at the Apollo Theater in Belvedere, Illinois, about 72 miles from Chicago, according to local news station WLS.

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