Officials have described the devastation as “heartbreaking,” and search and rescue teams must use chainsaws to access damaged homes and buildings.
Four persons were killed by a tornado in Missouri, according to state police.
According to officials, the fatalities were reported in Bollinger County, approximately 50 miles south of St. Louis.
Following Wednesday morning’s storm, a search and rescue operation was initiated, with personnel using chainsaws to clear trees and bushes to gain access to homes and buildings.
Sergeant Clark Parrott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol stated that the storm had resulted in “multiple injuries and multiple fatalities” and that “the damage is quite extensive.” It is devastating to witness.”
Also teams of rescue workers have been scouring southeastern Missouri for damaged and destroyed residences and businesses.
An official stated that there may still be individuals missing in Glen Allen, a village of just over 100 people.
“I’m hearing that it was pretty bad,” said Bollinger County public administrator Larry Welker. “Several trailers” were in the village.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado made landfall in Missouri around 3:30 a.m. local time.
It was one of more than a dozen observed overnight in the Midwest, the service noted.
The Storm Prediction Center reported that up to 40 million people in a region that includes significant cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, and Memphis, Tennessee, were at risk of being impacted by the storms on Wednesday evening.
A storm system sweeping across the Midwest and South generated the tornado.
Meteorologist Justin Gibbs of the National Weather Service estimated that the tornado traveled between 15 and 20 miles and stayed on the ground for approximately 15 minutes.
A weather service team was en route to Bollinger County to collect information regarding the tornado.
Mr. Gibbs stated unequivocally that “it was a significant tornado.”
He stated that when tornadoes strike late at night or early in the morning, they are especially hazardous.
“It’s a nightmare from a warning perspective,” he stated.
“It’s bad at any time, but it’s particularly bad at 3.30 a.m.”
Just days earlier, a string of US tornadoes killed at least 32 people in the South, Midwest, and Delaware.
Numerous residences and structures were devastated in Arkansas, Iowa, and Illinois.
