Dozens of Tornadoes Rip Through the Midwest, Killing at Least 6
A severe storm system slammed the Midwest yesterday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more throughout Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. "The devastation is just unbelievable," Gary Manier, the mayor of Washington, Illinois, told Reuters. "I can't imagine people walked away from these places."
All six fatalities occurred in Illinois, which was hit with at least 10 tornadoes. At least 16 twisters struck Indiana, and eight were reported in Kentucky. Missouri and Ohio were each struck by one.
Dozens of injuries were reported from the storms, though the exact number isn't yet clear. As of Sunday night, nearly 90,000 people in Northern Illinois were without power, including parts of Chicago. An additional 24,000 people remain without electricity in Indiana, and more than 35,000 lost power in Missouri, mostly near St. Louis.
Large parts of Washington, Illinois, population 15,000, were destroyed in seconds. "Within less than a minute, everything started collapsing inside the house, cracking, sputtering," resident Steve Bucher told NBC News. "Next thing we know, it's light inside the garage."
"The whole neighborhood's gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house," another Washington resident, Michael Perdun, told NBC. "I stepped outside and I heard it coming. My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone."
This is reportedly a video of one of the tornadoes that landed near Washington.
[Images via AP]