Severe spring storms barreled through the midwest Wednesday night, wreaking havoc on homes and business and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
In Hazelwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, at least 24 homes suffered severe damage as the tornado ripped off roofs and knocked down trees, prompting Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to declare a state of emergency, the Associated Press reports. Over 24,000 residents, many of whom live in and around St. Louis, still did not have power this morning, but no serious injuries or deaths have been reported yet, according to FOX2Now-St. Louis and CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOX.
(WATCH: “Thundersnow” Blankets Midwest)
Alisa Daffin, who lives in Hazelwood, told CNN affiliate KMOV that she slept in her bathroom last night and woke up this morning without electricity or water and discovered downed power lines and trees surrounding her home: “It looks like a war zone, it doesn’t look like my home.”
In Arkansas, a tornado damaged more than 30 homes — six were razed to the ground — and injured at least four people in Van Buren County, 75 miles north of Little Rock, NBC reports. This morning, nearly 1,000 residents woke up without power. Botkinburg Foursquare Church got hit especially hard just after Wednesday night services, as the storm tore off the roof of the church and destroyed its sanctuary, classrooms, and a pavilion, according to CNN.
Further north, a storm made up of ice, snow and rain blanketed parts of Minnesota, and the National Weather Service expects more to come. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton activated the National Guard to help local and county governments dig residents and businesses out of the snow. Worthington, a town in southern Minnesota, turned into a “land of ice” — a scene out of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, as one resident described it to the CBS-Minnesota affiliate WCCO.
Back in the Southeast, residents in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are bracing themselves for more bad weather, including a possible twister, large hail, and fierce winds.
Update at 2:35 pm: CNN is reporting that the storm has killed one person and injured “several others” in Kemper County, Mississippi. The National Weather Service has also spotted a tornado near Macon.
Severe spring storms barreled through the midwest Wednesday night, wreaking havoc on homes and business and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.
In Hazelwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, at least 24 homes suffered severe damage as the tornado ripped off roofs and knocked down trees, prompting Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to declare a state of emergency, the Associated Press reports. Over 24,000 residents, many of whom live in and around St. Louis, still did not have power this morning, but no serious injuries or deaths have been reported yet, according to FOX2Now-St. Louis and CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOX.
(WATCH: “Thundersnow” Blankets Midwest)
Alisa Daffin, who lives in Hazelwood, told CNN affiliate KMOV that she slept in her bathroom last night and woke up this morning without electricity or water and discovered downed power lines and trees surrounding her home: “It looks like a war zone, it doesn’t look like my home.”
In Arkansas, a tornado damaged more than 30 homes — six were razed to the ground — and injured at least four people in Van Buren County, 75 miles north of Little Rock, NBC reports. This morning, nearly 1,000 residents woke up without power. Botkinburg Foursquare Church got hit especially hard just after Wednesday night services, as the storm tore off the roof of the church and destroyed its sanctuary, classrooms, and a pavilion, according to CNN.
Further north, a storm made up of ice, snow and rain blanketed parts of Minnesota, and the National Weather Service expects more to come. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton activated the National Guard to help local and county governments dig residents and businesses out of the snow. Worthington, a town in southern Minnesota, turned into a “land of ice” — a scene out of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, as one resident described it to the CBS-Minnesota affiliate WCCO.
Back in the Southeast, residents in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are bracing themselves for more bad weather, including a possible twister, large hail, and fierce winds.
Update at 2:35 pm: CNN is reporting that the storm has killed one person and injured “several others” in Kemper County, Mississippi. The National Weather Service has also spotted a tornado near Macon.