At least one person is dead after a line of powerful storms spawned at least 10 tornadoes across the Midwest overnight. TODAY's Al Roker reports.
By NBC News and msnbc.com staff
Updated at 6:45 a.m. ET: At least four people were killed early Wednesday as a line of tornadoes marched across the Midwest.
Three of the deaths occurred in Harrisburg, Ill., after a possible tornado swept through, destroying 35-40 homes, according to local TV station KFVS12.
The other happened when a suspected tornado hit a mobile home park in southwest Missouri, south of Buffalo, said Lt. Dana Eagan of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Another 13 people at the trailer park were injured, she said.
The rough weather also knocked out power to all of Buffalo, Eagan said.
At least 8 people were injured when a tornado ripped through Harveyville, Kan., on Tuesday night, NBC News reported. At least three of the injured are in critical condition, according to weather.com, and 40 percent of the town suffered damage.
NBC station KSHB 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 Wabaunsee County, where Harveyville is located. A news release from the governor's office said one person was critically injured.
Other hard-hit areas included Branson and Lebanon in Missouri. In Branson, there were at least a dozen injuries including people trapped in their homes, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Griffin said. The apparent tornado moved through downtown Branson, heavily damaging the city's famous theaters, Griffin said.
Searchers there were going house to house early Wednesday, Taney County Sheriff Jimmie Russell. He said he didn't know how many injuries there were or how severe they were.
Tractor-trailer blown off road
The National Weather Service was receiving reports of structural damage just north of Lamar in Barton County, Missouri, probably from a tornado, as well as in southern Dallas County near Long Lane, according to NBC station KY3.
A tornado was reported to be on the ground in southern Lebanon at 12:25 a.m. (1:25 a.m ET) and numerous reports came in of damage in the area. Debris was reported to be falling from the sky at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday (1:30 a.m. ET) in Lebanon, and a tractor-trailer was reported to be blown off Interstate 44 nearby.
The damage near Lamar occurred late Tuesday as a line of thunderstorms moved out of Kansas and Oklahoma into southwest Missouri. The storm system was accompanied by hail, along with the high winds, according to KY3.
At 12:08 a.m. (1:08 a.m. ET), the National Weather Service's radar indicated the possibility of a tornado south of Buffalo, Mo. Spotters confirmed a tornado along Missouri 32 moving toward Bennett Spring State Park. The NWS got a report of a home in the Long Lane area being damaged or destroyed. Power also was reported to be out in Buffalo.
Weather.com earlier said that "scattered severe storms" were expected to sweep from out of the Plains eastward into the mid-Mississippi Valley and portions of the Mid-South Tuesday night into early Wednesday.
"Damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes are all possible," weather.com added. "The severe threat will continue on Wednesday from the Ohio Valley into the South. Damaging winds are the main concern, however there could be some isolated tornadoes."
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NBC News, weather.com and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
