E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSAt least 12 people were killed after devastating tornadoes and storms steamrolled through the Midwest and South. NBC's Lester Holt and TODAY's Al Roker report.
Updated at 8:45 p.m. ET: HARRISBURG, Ill. -- At least 12 people were killed -- including several crushed by debris -- as tornadoes marched across the Midwest, flattening parts of several towns including the tourist hub of Branson, Mo.
Hardest hit was Harrisburg, where four women and two men died, some 100 others were injured and more than 200 homes were destroyed or damaged.
Most if not all the Harrisburg dead were killed by a home tossed atop their own property early Wednesday, a witness said.
Whitney Curtis / Getty Images
Steve McDonald stands among debris from the home of his mother-in-law, Mary Osman, who was killed in the twister that raced through Harrisburg, Ill.
"It's a house on top of a house," said Mike Hancock, 29, who with several others tried to rescue the victims. "We crawled in there as much as we could. Then there wasn't enough stability, the whole foundation was shaking. We had to get out of there," he said.
"We have devastation in our community like we've never seen," Mayor Eric Gregg told a press conference, where officials said the twister had peak winds of 170 mph, making it an EF-4 on the 1-5 scale used by the National Weather Service, with 5 being the most severe.
"There are hundreds of homes damaged, millions of dollars in damage," he added. "The hospital is severely damaged. There's a mall with 10 stores that was destroyed."
Forecasters warned more twisters could strike the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians through Wednesday evening as the storm system moved east.
Rock Center reports on the aftermath of the powerful tornadoes that ripped through America's heartland, killing at least nine people. The twisters blew houses on top of each other and toppled buildings as they hopscotched through parts of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. NBC's Lester Holt and The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore report from Harrisburg, Ill., one of the towns hit hardest by the tornadoes.
Three other deaths were reported in Missouri, where a suspected tornado hit a mobile home park outside the town of Buffalo. One person died there and around a dozen people were injured. Two others died in the Cassville and Puxico areas of Missouri, state officials said. Three deaths were reported in eastern Tennessee, The Associated Press reported.
In Harrisburg, police issued a curfew overnight and the area most impacted was evacuated as a precaution. Some 3,300 customers were without power in the town of about 10,000.
In Kansas, 12 people were injured when a EF-2 tornado made a five-mile-long run through Harveyville on Tuesday night, officials said. Three of the injured were in critical condition, and 40 percent of the town suffered damage.
NBC affiliate KSHB TV reported that an apartment complex and a church were among the damaged buildings in the town of about 250 people.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback issued a disaster declaration for the area, parts of which were without power.
NBC's Al Roker reports on the unseasonable tornadoes that ripped through Illinois.
Other hard-hit areas included Branson and Lebanon in Missouri.
In Branson, 32 people were treated at one hospital for injuries, mostly cuts and bruises. A tornado moved through downtown overnight, heavily damaging the city's famous theaters and hopscotching up Highway 76, uprooting road signs and scattering debris.
Officials on Wednesday gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF-2 and said it ran an 8- to 10-mile path.
The injuries could have been far worse had the storm hit next week, when the tourist season picks up.
"If it was a week later, it'd be a different story," said Bill Tirone, assistant general manager for the 530-room Hilton and adjacent Branson Convention Center, where windows were shattered and some rooms had furniture sucked away by high winds. Hotel workers were able to get all guests to safety as the storm raged.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Storm debris is piled near the entrance to the Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater in Branson, Mo., on Wednesday.
John Moore, owner of the damaged Cakes-n-Creams '50s Diner, said the apparent twister appeared to "jump side to side" as it moved down the entertainment district, right through the convention center, across a lake and into a housing division.
"The theater next to me kind of exploded. It went everywhere. The hotels on the two sides of me lost their roofs. Power lines are down. Windows are blown out," Moore said. "There's major, major destruction. There has to be millions dollars of damage all down the strip."
Jennifer Verhaalen said she saw a white funnel cloud followed by a wall of rain as the storm closed in on the town around 1 a.m.
She said she retreated to a back bedroom with her husband as the storm slammed into two hotel buildings, tearing the roof off one.
Across the road, a strip mall lay in tatters, its roof missing and several walls collapsed.
Branson has long been a touristy outdoor destination for visitors who came to see the beauty of the surrounding Ozarks. But the city rose to prominence in the 1990s largely due to the theater district, where venues featured the star power of country music and celebrities including the Osmonds and Andy Williams.
John Hanna / AP
Damage in Harveyville, Kan., includes this home.
In Lebanon, a tornado was reported at 12:25 a.m. and numerous reports came in of damage in the area. A tractor-trailer was reported to have been blown off Interstate 44 nearby.
Newburgh, Ind., also saw damage from severe storms. Several homes and a business were hit, though no injuries or deaths were reported.
The National Weather Service said it was forecasting more tornadoes on Wednesday, including "one or two possibly strong" ones as well as "damaging wind over parts of the Tennessee Valley to southern Appalachians" into the evening.
The system also skirted northern Arkansas, bringing gusts of up to 60 miles per hour in the northwest. A wall cloud was reported in Cherokee Village, where trees were scattered along roads, the weather service said. Residents of Clay County in northeastern Arkansas reported hail the size of golf balls, and similar-sized hail was reported in Mountain Home.
Mathew Fowler / Harveyville Gazette via AP
Damage is seen Wednesday morning in Harveyville, Kan., after an apparent tornado passed through Tuesday night.
In northern Oklahoma, gusts of up to 80 mph flipped trailers and damaged homes near Cherokee.
Tornado season normally starts in March, but it isn't unusual to see severe storms earlier in the year. Forecasters have a particularly difficult time assessing how serious a season will be in part because tornadoes are so unpredictable. This year, two people were killed by separate tornadoes in Alabama in January, and preliminary reports show 95 tornadoes struck that month.
NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
God Bless everyone effected by these storms. Keep the faith and be safe!!!
Condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
Perhaps its time for tornado resistant building codes in these tornado zones? Seems to me the houses are just flying apart, often torn away from the foundation. A little extra building and that wouldnt happen as easily.
Good point. I remember reading a while go that it wouldn't cost that much more to incorporate some structural elements that would make a huge difference. Typically, builders are short-sided and just want to cut first costs. As such, maybe this shouyld be a building code requirement in this area.
Call your congressman and state senator and remind them this is where they need to focus their attention. Not trying to curry the favor of some third world dictator. Americans need to take care of Americans before our leaders try to save the world. Already in my neighborhood relief packages are being assembled to help the affected areas.
I hope Dicks 5 and 10 in Branson is still standing. That place is sweet.
My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and the missing. May God watch over them and give them peace. I will keep all the people that was effected by the tornadoes in my prayers.
Here I am crying about being displaced from my home for 6 month in CT from Hurricane Irene! So sorry for these people!! What a sad loss! God Bless!
Our prayers and thoughts for all affected by these storms.
Global warming strikes red necks again. It twert no global warming..'cause Rush done said so..I heard him and with his GED he is smarter than all dem liberal scientists.
Are you trying to be intelligent because you are failing miserably.
"Global warming" doesn't cause tornadoes...they've been occurring for a long, long time.
But hey, leave it up to WHT3 to believe the guys cashing a paycheck to perpetuate a belief that keeps them well fed, housed, and behind the wheel of an SUV.
These threads should concern the ordeals that sadly affected the victims. People died. They are gone. This is sad for their families. It has nothing to do with hate or why people want to complain about each other. Anyone that thinks otherwise is immature and might possibly have something bad happen to them someday. Hope not but it could happen. Caring, mature humans will fell the same for you and wish we could help. Tornados are bad news for everyone. The best defense is to stay informed and have a plan to get to safety. I live in tornado alley. My family keeps an eye on every storm and luckily have storm spotting experience. Get educated and stay alive. God bless the victims.
Not to sound mean or anything I feel bad for all those who lost there lives, but why do tornado's always hit the Midwest if god really loves all you religious freaks, then why does he send tornado's to wipe you all out I'm just saying.
God just hates the poor in New Orleans, haven't you heard. Sin city New POrleans. No wait sin city is Las Vegas. But God is a high roller in sin city. But you note that the religious right never mentions Las Vegas a sin city.
Really.....also try spell check next time
Disasters test us in that it gives us a chance to show God how much we love each other or not, and how much we are willing to put aside our differences or not and help fix our problems here on Earth or not. It's such a great feeling to be able to help someone in a time of need. Pitch in, do the right thing and go for that good feeling in helping another. What goes around, comes around-we've all experienced this; but if you haven't yet, you're time will come.
empathy: What a poor choice of names! If God truly punishes evil with disaster and death then why are you still here??? Just sayin
Lakerman2- how am I evil I'm just pointing out what everyone else says , do I believe that there is a god that punishes people, no I don't , but the point is others do , so I say to those people if god loves you so much and hates others who believe differently so much, than why does god let so many Christians die you would think that they would live a long happy life in gods grace, its a valid statement, and bobo I agree with you, but unfortunately not a lot of other people do, that was my point from the gecko.
Empathy- If you'd read the Bible you'd know and not have to ask MSN posters...IJS
One more thing...a Gecko is a reptile if i'm not mistaken.
The bible was created by man, why would I take anything it says seriously , don't get me wrong I'm not a atheist, nor am I a christian, but I believe there is a higher power out there, and unlike your god who solves all our problems and smites those who he doesn't agree with , the higher power I believe in loves all, it just goes to show the hypocrisy and lies people spout in the name of their god, its sad .
My deepeset condolances go out to these people, to think while I was safe in my home last night, probably griping about trivial things, they were enduring this. You are in my prayers.
February Spring storms. Global warming? Nahhhhh I beleive in Fox News and Rush and Hannity. I mean all together sum Rush and Hannity have.hhmmm a GED education?
You have never lived in Missouri, have you? You're ignorant.
He is very ignorant, having no knowledge of climate or weather. Correlation does not imply causation.
"Tornado season normally starts in March, but it isn't unusual to see severe storms earlier in the year."
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/bou/showimages/MAR-APR-MAY_2012_Outlook-Baker.pdf
Bad weather = global warming obsessionists come out of the woodwork. It's really gotten old. Time for y'all to get a new obsession.
With instant communication today, wouldn't it be nice to be able to go to your local bank and send a $1 or 2 to any disaster site in the country for immedicate use by those affected without having to involve the government or worry about repayment. The problem some of us are having is that we don't trust anyone other than ourselves to see that this gets done in a timely and honest manner.
fox, limbaugh, hannity and all the wing nut climate change deniers in congress need to pay for the damages caused by this storm. As a nation we need to do something to reverse the damage caused by human accelerated climate change and it doesn't help that so many vocal and thouroughly wrong deniers are obstructing the effort.
Global Worming.
My heart and prayers go out to all of the victims of those storms that passed, and will pass today. As a survivor of a tornado in my life I know exactly how those winds are fatal to ones life and hope that each and every one of you are safe and are able to find a safe shelter til this all blows over.
I hope this turns out as best as possible for these people.
I was a career Hurricane Hunter (and survivor of Katrina).
Trust me this is far worse, far too quick.
God speed on your recovery.
@ Monkey Mo: Sir, how do you know this? Your full of it and you've obviously been smoking that funny stuff.. I for one do NOT beleive in the Doomsday Crap!!! The Bible sir, tells us to beware of FALSE PROPHETS towards the end days and, it is a proven fact sir, that the Bible also states that one, we do not know when the rapture or the end of the earth will happen, and two.. please refer to your bible. I have family in Branson, and I am worried sick about them!!!! I have not heard from them and I'm about ready to hop a plane and head down there to check on them.....I have more important things to do and worry about my family than rather some idiot like you sir preach about the stupid DoomsDay!!! Please go share it somewhere else!!! There's enough stress in our lives right now!
Thoughts are with these people as they rebuild. One tip -- there are resources like Recover Registry where you can register for the items you need just like a wedding shower.
can someone please tell me this---this happened last year and killed hundreds: so why oh why do people still want to live there
MOVE already or die, my gosh, just move.
We live on Texas gulf coast for almost 40 years and have never had any damages from fire, sleet, hurricane, snow, ice, flood, tornadoes, wind, hail, blizzards, earthquakes, volcanoes.... I think I will just stay HERE!
An anecdotal story about yourself doesn't help the folks who have died because of such weather in the "Texas gulf coast".
Those killed in such events aren't able to post their anecdotal stories on newsvine.
I didn't think it would take long for a post with such ignorance.
Gee this is awful. I was in New Orleans in 2006 and 2008 and didn't see ANY damages THIS bad from Katrina! The houses were still there after the water went down. These houses are just gone.
There is a difference between a tornado and hurricanes/flooding.
Why isn't anyone calling for more laws regarding tornado control. It is Obama's fault for the green energy BS money that was shipped to China. If these homes were powered by Nuclear energy the metal and wood would have been hardened by the radiation and theese people would still be safe. I am boycotting all tornados and hurricains untill stricter laws are enacted to prevent them killing people. Oh and something about aliens...
WTF...what do tornadoes have to do with the President?
I hate DB's!
Sorry for the folks in the Midwest...I grew up there...rode out plenty of tornadoes in the root cellar...joined the military...retired from the military but didn't go back to the Midwest...stayed in the Great Northwest...at least it's better than the California seasons of fire, flood, mud, and traffic...all we have are a few measly volcanoes up here...God bless everyone...
Let's just all start living under ground and we will not have to worry about our houses being blown away in a tornado, or a hurricane, won't have to worry about high heating bills, high air conditioning bills. Won't have to waste precious water washing the windows. Come on people. I live in Missouri and I feel terrible for the people of Joplin, Branson and all those in the other cites, towns, and states that have lost their homes and possessions to "natural causes". But it is life. You live anywhere long enough and some natural disaster is going to come along. Hurricane's, tornado's, snow storms, dust storms, earthquakes, no one is immune. It is how you deal with it and carry on afterwards that counts. If anyone of us could say they are not sad about the world today, then they don't live in the real world.
The hobbits had the right idea. I get blasted with horrible heat in Arizona, and horrible cooling bills. Why didn't they just start building homes underground?