bad_meetz_evil
04-03-2006, 02:19 PM
(CNN) -- High winds and twisters tore through the Midwest and South on Sunday, killing 18 people, including 15 in northwestern Tennessee.
Twelve people were killed in Dyer County, Tennessee, Sheriff Jeffrey Holt said.
"Destruction is almost absolute total destruction along some of the path of this," Holt said. "There's just nothing left of houses but foundation." (Watch storm pelt Indiana, setting off warning sirens -- 3:11)
Holt reported "major power outages" along the path of the storm from east to west through the county.
"This hit about 7:40 last night, so the warnings were out," the sheriff said "They were being tracked all the way across Arkansas and Missouri as it was coming in. We had plenty of warnings, I think, just the amount of destruction in the area is what caused our fatality count to get so high."
In nearby Gibson County, Tennessee, Emergency Management spokesman Kurt Pickering reported three people were killed and "numerous homes" were destroyed.
A twister carved a path through a cluster of homes near the Jimmy Dean Foods plant north of the Gibson County town of Newbern, where several victims died, according to The Associated Press. The plant, which makes breakfast sausages and other food products, also sustained some damage, a security guard told AP.
The storms, which rumbled through Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois, claimed three other lives.
# Straight-line winds -- not a twister -- toppled a mobile home in Essex, Missouri, killing 42-year-old man, Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner said.
# In Fairview Heights, Illinois, a man was killed when high winds flattened a clothing store, police said. That city is near St. Louis, Missouri.
# A man was killed when a tree fell on him during a heavy storm near Ballwin in St. Louis County, Missouri, a county police spokesman told CNN.
In Caruthersville, Missouri, heavy damage to homes and businesses has been reported, but no deaths.
Several people have been rescued after being trapped in their homes but others were still trapped early Monday, according to a dispatcher with the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department in Missouri.
The town's power was out and officials expected it would not be restored for several days, he said.
Tornadoes left heavy damage along a path that began in northeast Arkansas and continued into southeast Missouri and northwest Tennessee.
Emergency officials sealed off Marmaduke, Arkansas, on Sunday evening as they worked to cope with tornado damage that the National Weather Service described as heavy.
In the southwest Kentucky city of Hopkinsville, "numerous homes" were destroyed, power lines were down and gas lines had erupted, the National Weather Service said.
A tornado touched down in Lewisburg, Kentucky, overturning cars and damaging buildings and homes, the weather service said.
Tornadoes in at least seven counties across central Illinois Sunday evening caused heavy damage in some communities, but no serious injuries or deaths have been reported, according to emergency officials and the National Weather Service.
A long front of severe weather stretched "pretty much from north to south" in Illinois, although the most powerful cell appeared to follow an eastward path along Interstate 72, according to Illinois Emergency Management spokeswoman Patti Thompson.
The town of Taylorville in Christian County, Illinois, received significant damage to dozens of homes and businesses, according to Taylorville Emergency Management Director George Michael Crews.
"We do not have any life safety concerns," Crews said, with only minor injuries reported.
The American Red Cross was on the scene helping residents find shelter for the night, he said.
The National Weather Service also reported tornado touchdowns in the Illinois counties of Champaign, McLean, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon and Kankakee. Initial damage reports in those counties were limited to utility poles and trees down, in addition to roof damage.
Severe thunderstorms also struck Indianapolis, Indiana, as thousands of fans departed a free John Mellencamp concert that was part of the NCAA's Final Four weekend, AP reported. Concertgoers scrambled for cover as tornado sirens sounded and sheets of heavy rain lashed the sidewalks and streets, according to television reports.
In Ohio, the storms ripped off the roof and chimney from a home in Warren County northeast of Cincinnati, AP reported. Downed trees and power lines were widespread.
"In every county in southwest Ohio, there has been some type of damage," AP quoted Myron Padgett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
Twelve people were killed in Dyer County, Tennessee, Sheriff Jeffrey Holt said.
"Destruction is almost absolute total destruction along some of the path of this," Holt said. "There's just nothing left of houses but foundation." (Watch storm pelt Indiana, setting off warning sirens -- 3:11)
Holt reported "major power outages" along the path of the storm from east to west through the county.
"This hit about 7:40 last night, so the warnings were out," the sheriff said "They were being tracked all the way across Arkansas and Missouri as it was coming in. We had plenty of warnings, I think, just the amount of destruction in the area is what caused our fatality count to get so high."
In nearby Gibson County, Tennessee, Emergency Management spokesman Kurt Pickering reported three people were killed and "numerous homes" were destroyed.
A twister carved a path through a cluster of homes near the Jimmy Dean Foods plant north of the Gibson County town of Newbern, where several victims died, according to The Associated Press. The plant, which makes breakfast sausages and other food products, also sustained some damage, a security guard told AP.
The storms, which rumbled through Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois, claimed three other lives.
# Straight-line winds -- not a twister -- toppled a mobile home in Essex, Missouri, killing 42-year-old man, Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner said.
# In Fairview Heights, Illinois, a man was killed when high winds flattened a clothing store, police said. That city is near St. Louis, Missouri.
# A man was killed when a tree fell on him during a heavy storm near Ballwin in St. Louis County, Missouri, a county police spokesman told CNN.
In Caruthersville, Missouri, heavy damage to homes and businesses has been reported, but no deaths.
Several people have been rescued after being trapped in their homes but others were still trapped early Monday, according to a dispatcher with the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department in Missouri.
The town's power was out and officials expected it would not be restored for several days, he said.
Tornadoes left heavy damage along a path that began in northeast Arkansas and continued into southeast Missouri and northwest Tennessee.
Emergency officials sealed off Marmaduke, Arkansas, on Sunday evening as they worked to cope with tornado damage that the National Weather Service described as heavy.
In the southwest Kentucky city of Hopkinsville, "numerous homes" were destroyed, power lines were down and gas lines had erupted, the National Weather Service said.
A tornado touched down in Lewisburg, Kentucky, overturning cars and damaging buildings and homes, the weather service said.
Tornadoes in at least seven counties across central Illinois Sunday evening caused heavy damage in some communities, but no serious injuries or deaths have been reported, according to emergency officials and the National Weather Service.
A long front of severe weather stretched "pretty much from north to south" in Illinois, although the most powerful cell appeared to follow an eastward path along Interstate 72, according to Illinois Emergency Management spokeswoman Patti Thompson.
The town of Taylorville in Christian County, Illinois, received significant damage to dozens of homes and businesses, according to Taylorville Emergency Management Director George Michael Crews.
"We do not have any life safety concerns," Crews said, with only minor injuries reported.
The American Red Cross was on the scene helping residents find shelter for the night, he said.
The National Weather Service also reported tornado touchdowns in the Illinois counties of Champaign, McLean, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon and Kankakee. Initial damage reports in those counties were limited to utility poles and trees down, in addition to roof damage.
Severe thunderstorms also struck Indianapolis, Indiana, as thousands of fans departed a free John Mellencamp concert that was part of the NCAA's Final Four weekend, AP reported. Concertgoers scrambled for cover as tornado sirens sounded and sheets of heavy rain lashed the sidewalks and streets, according to television reports.
In Ohio, the storms ripped off the roof and chimney from a home in Warren County northeast of Cincinnati, AP reported. Downed trees and power lines were widespread.
"In every county in southwest Ohio, there has been some type of damage," AP quoted Myron Padgett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.