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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.
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There are two words we are forgetting here: La Nina. When the climate is controlled by this lady, we will have more intense storms and not all of them when they usually occur.
That is why parts of the country are dry as a bone and others have less snow than normal. La Nina.
And don't forget the down side of fossil fuels usage. The planet is like an old frig. It's temperature is set by the melting polar ice caps i mean melting block of ice. And when the ice has completely melted, the temperature soars and the perishables begin to perish i mean spoil.
Those poor people .Just looking at the photos was a shock. I hope they get help.
Moheeheeko, I'll tell you why people want to live in the South and Midwest. We choose to live there because it is the center and heart of this enormous, continental country that is the United States of America. We choose to live there because the richness of the soil has made it the Breadbasket of our nation and much of the outside world. We choose to live there because our ancestors migrated and settled there, attracted by unlimited employment opportunities in the Midwest which was, and may be again, the manufacturing center and industrial muscle of the entire world. We remain there because we are proud of our past as the armament center of the victorious Allied Forces who fought and won WWII. We remain there because the US auto industry, though troubled, is still a power house to be reckoned with in the world market, and because nobody is better at innovation and manufacturing flexibility than the Michigan based auto industry in spite of some shuttered plants and thousands of outsourced jobs. We remain there because nothing in this country, not even the Great Smokies nor the Rockies, beats the awesome size and beauty of our five majestic inland seas known as the Great Lakes and the shipping and fishing industries that flourishes there. We love our Southern and Midwestern homelands because of the decency and friendliness of its people who are ever ready to lend a hand or more to a neighbor in need without being asked to do so. We are proud supporters of our world class colleges and state universities which attract student bodies from every state in the Union and every country around the world. An added bonus is the chance to support and enjoy attending our Big Ten Football contests on Autumn weekends. We enjoy living in wide open spaces, even in our largest cities. We are part of Big Sky country where children and adults alike can gaze upward and around as far as the eye can see, and dream boundless dreams without mountains or skyscrapers to obstruct our inner and outward vision. We live here because God made this land beautiful, and the soil rich, and the vegetation and wildlife abundant and full or variety. It's an outdoor sportsman's or sportswoman's paradise. Yes we have harsh, bitterly cold winters. But businesses remain open, traffic flows through unploughed snow, and many students still walk to schools which never close because of bad weather; you just get there as soon as you can and you are not marked tardy. Our winters make us hardy, resourceful and physically stronger. Yes, summer is often infernally hot, but days are golden, wide-blue-sky beauties. Yet we know that come evening with cooling temperatures and unstable air currents, we are likely to get drenching rains and violent thunder storms, and tornado warnings, which thankfully far outnumber actual tornadoes. But ,for the most part, we withstand those too. Every one knows to seek a structurally reinforced internal shelter even if it's only under a cellar staircase. Our housing structures are solid, strong and well built, but for the trailer parks which unfortunately, are notoriously unsafe in tornado country. But occasionally, a tornado will touch down on a Cleveland, or Sandusky, or the metropolitan area surrounding Detroit and cause major damage to even the sturdiest of structures. Until recently such occurrences were rare, and we helped ourselves and our neighbors, cleared away the rubble and if possible rebuilt, or moved on to another area close by. But Southerners and Midwesterners are strong people and survivors accustomed to balancing adversity with the beauty and blessings the South and Midwest offer us. We are part of the land and it is part of us. That is mostly why we choose to live here in spite of our customarily harsh, and occasionally disastrous winter and summer weather. Besides, Spring and Autumn in these two regions are gorgeous.
Chicadee- I could not have said it better! I assissted with the cleanup in Joplin. I don't live there. Just decided to go help. I was moved by the outpouring of assistance from people who came from all over the country (and world). I met people from Wisconsin, Illinois, New Mexico, Florida, Hawaii, Austraila and yes, Moheeheeko, even California. I worked side by side with complete strangers that came together to help their fellow man. I've experienced a lot of emotions in my life, but nothing compares to the feeling of helping out your fellow man. Good luck to all. We'll be there to help you out if you find yourself in tough spot. - Nace
Amen sister!
I had posted my comment before I read Chicadee's and Nace's comments. Let me say Chick you are absolutely right. There is a strength that comes from within from southerners and midwesterners. I am a 6th generation Stone County Missourian. It is the adjoining to Taney County where Branson sits and there is a small town called Kimberling City on Table Rock Lake where I grew up that was hit by a tornado, too, early this morning. Thank you for your words of encoragement and what true strength is. Nace, my daughter and her 2 sons and my oldest son lived in Joplin when that town was hit by the F-5 on May 22, 2011. Thank you so much for going to the aid of my family and their town! They were not harmed and they did not lose their homes. They did lose their jobs. They helped with clean-up and then they moved back home, where we're from later in the year to find employment. Then this morning another tornado hits. They are safe, thank God. I live in Ohio and went back when Joplin got hit. I'm leaving Saturday to help my family and friends clean up after this tornado. Chick and Nace, thank you, it's people like you that make America great!
Looking up at the raging snow storm with 45 mph winds and gusts into the 60s in the Sierra Nevada I sometimes wonder why I live where the ground tends to shake way too often.
Then I look at the weather in other places. Tornadoes almost everywhere except the mountains, hurricanes anywhere from Texas to Maine, acid rain and choking air pollution everywhere with more than three people.
I will take this place with its 13% unemployment and nearly unbearable summer heat over any of those other places. Until I get to learn about another new place name like Loma Preata.
The local meteorologist can’t successfully predict tomorrow’s weather, but they are proficient at hyping their weather predictions with non science like wind chill and heat index. They also capitalize by deluging the viewer with videos of debris, homes with missing shingles, damaged trees as the aftermath devastation created by sever weather conditions. But what the heck, they are entertaining if not accurate.
That's why climate change is not a science. It is observation and predictions not unlike oil speculators and other commodity futures buyers. It's a hit or miss game.
it's a twister, aunty m - THIS is the EVIL of getting JAMMERED(using vodka-soaked tampoons)/CREWTCHIE(crunk + cootchie): almost feel sorry - that is kind of funny...
still waiting on the zombie apokolypse
As someone who has lived through some wicked twisting winds, I purchased a cheap motorcycle helmet and always have it nearby in my house. When that train noise comes, I bucket up.
What concerns me most about all of this is Springfield, Mo. If you're not familiar with the area, locate Joplin, Buffalo and Branson on a map. Then draw an imaginary circle around the three. In the center of that circle is the densely populated Springfield Metropolitan Area, home to nearly half a million people, myself included.
The devastation caused by an EF3 bisecting this region would be staggering. A direct hit to the city itself by an EF5 would potentially be the deadliest natural disaster in US history (excluding the 1918 flu pandemic).
HAARP
Steady there, Joe.Actually several EF3's have hit Springfield, MO, the last being May4, 2003.They all did some damage, of course, but they also all lost strength as they entered the town of approx 500,000.If a rare EF-5 tears into anywhere the place is going to be liquefied, and most people above ground aren't going to make it,granted.But southern Missouri has had so many tornadoes that most people there take them seriously and take cover when they should.So why not have a plan for where you would go if a tornado was bearing down on you, where you would put your vehicle if there was time, what you need to have already gathered together when the watch was issued to take to the shelter with you if there's a warning later? Then get a weather radio if you don't already have one and listen to it-not just during weather warnings but every day.The NWS meteorologists will tell you several days in advance when danger is approaching.
The 2003 event you refer to was an EF0 by the time it tracked across the corridor and into the Metro. No EF3 or greater has been verified by a reputable source hitting the area since at least the 1870's. This has led to the erroneous idea that Springfield is immune to major tornadic events despite strong evidence to the contrary. And EF5's are no longer a rarity as last years Super Outbreak proved. My family's farm north of Springfield was completely destroyed by an EF5 , which also killed our neighbors down the road, in 2003. There had never been a recorded tornado greater than an EF2 in the area. I'm not trying to be an alarmist but this is certainly getting worse and people should be aware that the Metro is simply unprepared for what may be coming.
But al gore is now walking tall. And the next time mr grover, the gop, & the rushbo scream at him - global warming bunk. Al gore will turn and say - go ahead, build the keystone pipeline, make my day. There wasn't even a tornado warning. Thru 7 states. A winter tornado.
H A A R P WAKE UP SHEEPLES
My daughter and her two sons and my oldest son lived in Joplin, MO May 22, 2011 when the F-5 slammed into that town. They moved home, close to Branson. I live in Ohio and am completely helpless, beside the prayers I say for all my family and friends that still live in Taney, Christian and Stone County, Missouri. Thankfully, all my family and friends were unharmed.
Got to love disasters today and we have only just got started,, get out your producers and make sure you get every little detail... We love seeing this, floods, tornado, hurricanes, earthquakes perversions and sickness, conforming to the enemy... oh yes, Getting ready for the bride..
GOOGLE HAARP and blame the government....all of sudden...at this season...makes u wonder
Don't be stupid! The government is not God! Stop spewing that nonsense here!
Maybe God really hates the conservative states.
Where's Pat Roberson's soap box when a twister hits modest god fearin towns? I mean, as a respected conservative pundit, can he help but note that these tornados are obviously god's manifest windy wrath hurled down from heaven for the sole purpose of snuffing out the poor inhabitants of these poor farmin towns for some offense. Perhaps homosexuality? Perhaps interracial marriage? Perhaps rampant use of birth control? Apple tasting? Excess tower height? Pork and shellfish consumption? Some new and unfathomed dictum? Just because? It's unclear. The mind reels.
I agree w/a few posters. The pictures of devastation & people have lost family & friends. Then along come people who have to crack jokes & make remarks that a chimpanzee would have more common sense not to make. I apologize chimpanzee's!
Take note people there are more GOOD people out there than cruel & sarcastic & karma will bite them in the butt!
Not to diminish the damage or difficulty the victims are experiencing, have you ever noticed the tornadoes are always 'suspected tornadoes', but there is never any 'alleged damage'?
Lost a man in Harveyville yesterday from the tornado. WIBW reported on their Facebook page.
People need to take the National Weather Service Skywarn class. Want to know what fuels storms? It is unstable air. Caused when cool dry air above meets warm moist air below. There is still the remnants of La Nina in the Pacific (cooler Pacific water). Last years strong La Nina led to lots of tornadoes. The same thing happened with the super outbreak of tornadoes in 1974, a strong La Nina. And remember that the 1970s was the time when we were being warned about global cooling and the next ice age.
People need to take the National Weather Service Skywarn class. Want to know what fuels storms? It is unstable air. Caused when cool dry air above meets warm moist air below. There is still the remnants of La Nina in the Pacific (cooler Pacific water). Last years strong La Nina led to lots of tornadoes. The same thing happened with the super outbreak of tornadoes in 1974, a strong La Nina. And remember that the 1970s was the time when we were being warned about global cooling and the next ice age.
I feel bad for the people that have to deal with this disaster as I know just how hard it can be.
maybe people will spare you all the insults since you don't live in the south.