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At least 22 feared dead in Midwest tornadoesWidespread damage reported in Kansas, Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- A swarm of tornadoes ripped through eastern Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee on Sunday, tearing through neighborhoods in Kansas City on both sides of the Missouri River, killing an estimated 22 people, emergency management officials said. Lawrence County, Missouri, appeared to be the hardest hit with an estimated 12 fatalities and extensive damage, according to Sheriff Doug Seneker. The tornado cut across the southeastern corner of the country at 6:25 p.m. CDT (7:25 p.m. EDT) and stayed on the ground half an hour, passing through the heart of Pierce City. Two of the county's fatalities were at the National Guard Armory in Pierce City, where people had gathered to weather out the approaching storm when the twister hit, said city utilities clerk Shelly Yonker. Several people remain missing. "Our downtown area was pretty much leveled," Yonker said. "It was a beautiful little town." A city police officer described the downtown area as being "wiped out." The funnel cloud also passed near Monett, Verona, Aurora and Marionville, causing additional damage and injuries. In neighboring Greene County, Missouri, one person was killed in Battlefield, just southwest of Springfield, said Joye McEllwee with the Springfield-Greene County Emergency Management Office. According to McEllwee, up to 400 homes were destroyed or damaged there. In Barton County, Missouri, which sits on the state line with Kansas, one man died when a tornado destroyed his house, said Deputy John Simpson of the Barton County Sheriff's Office. At least 15 homes were destroyed in Barton, he said. From there, the tornado ran through the counties of Cedar, Polk, Dallas and Camden, according to officials with the sheriff's departments in those counties.
Jim Charrier with the Missouri Emergency Management Agency said local officials also reported two deaths in Christian County and two deaths in Cedar County. He said there is severe storm damage in 16 Missouri counties. Dallas County's emergency management director said the northern part of his county bore the brunt of it, with 10 people injured and several homes destroyed. "We've got power lines down, a couple of propane tanks punctured, so we've got propane leaking into the area," said Director Terry Lane. "All the major roads [into Dallas County] are blocked by debris and power lines and cars on their roofs." The courthouse in Stockton, the county seat in Cedar County, sustained major damage and all communication to the town was cut, said Jim Wakeman, the operations chief of the state emergency management agency. He said Gov. Bob Holden would probably fly over Stockton on Monday to survey the damage. A fire station in Battlefield, just south of Springfield, was also destroyed, Wakeman said.
In Polk County, sheriff's dispatcher Bevin Arnett described "extensive" damage in two towns, Humansville and Dunnegan. "We have had trees in the road, power lines down, houses in the road, a bunch of rescues and injuries," she said. Two people were killed in Jasper County, Missouri, below Barton County on the Kansas state line, said Lt. Gail Bass of the sheriff's department. They were an elderly couple who were in their home when the tornado destroyed the house, Bass said. The couple lived just outside Carl Junction, a town of about 5,000 that was hit hard, he said. "It looks like most of the homes are at least substantially damaged or destroyed, and there appears to be quite a bit of damage outside the city of Carl Junction, out in the county," Bass said. An electrical substation in Carl Junction was destroyed, he said, cutting power to the town. In Wyandotte County, Kansas, an 81-year-old man was killed when he was struck in the head by debris, said Don Denney, a spokesman with the unified government of Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas. Another 21 people were injured in the city and county, he said, but "it's a miracle" that the toll wasn't higher. "We've sustained significant damage in the northwest section of our city," Denney said. "Dozens and dozens of homes have been leveled and scores of others have been significantly damaged." Micky Davis, director of emergency management for Wyandotte, said one shelter has already been opened. "We're still doing search and rescue and trying to open up the highways for emergency vehicles," Davis said. Across the river in Missouri, damage was reported in three areas of Platte County, said Sgt. Joseph King, with the sheriff's department. The affected areas are Tracy Township, North Moor and Riverside -- all just north of Kansas City, he said. A preliminary estimate put damage at $5 million with the loss of 35 homes, 24 apartments and 12 businesses, he said, adding, "That's very cursory." Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius declared a state of emergency for southeastern Kansas, where the storm caused major damage in the counties of Lawrence, Crawford and Cherokee. Near Crawford's county seat of Girard, in a village called Ringo, at least 25 homes were either destroyed or damaged, said a 911 dispatcher who declined to give her name. She did not know of any injuries or deaths. A "large part" of the town of Franklin was destroyed, the dispatcher said, and power lines were down "all over the county." A dispatcher with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department said he was unable to give details of the damage because the power there was out. In addition to Wyandotte County, Leavenworth County was also hit, said Joy Moser, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Emergency Management. Pat Atkins, with the Leavenworth County Emergency Management Office, said nine homes were destroyed, eight had major damage and 30 with some damage. Two people were injured.
According to Atkins, most of the storm damage occurred between the towns of Linwood and Basehor. Damage assessment teams are scheduled to go out in the morning. Paul Backs, also with the emergency office, said the twister "tore up barns, grain silos, ripped up a lot of trees." Weather Service officials will not know the category of the storms until they do a site survey, said Ryan Jewell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "But just unofficially, views of the storm damage appear to be in the range of F3 or higher." F3 tornadoes have winds of between 158 and 206 miles per hour and are capable of severe damage, with roofs and some walls torn off well-constructed houses, and most trees uprooted. F5 is the highest on the scale. "This is all one big storm system," said Rich Thompson, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma. Thompson said the storms were caused by dry air from the Rocky Mountains hitting the moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. "There have been multiple supercell thunderstorms coming off of that, and may have been producing tornadoes," Thompson said. Tornadoes damaged houses, trailers and buildings in western Tennessee late Sunday, killing at least one person, according to Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Kurt Pickering. The death happened when a twister hit a mobile home park in Dyer County, destroying several trailers, Pickering said. Several houses were also damaged in the town of Dyersburg, he said. In Madison County, a National Guard armory lost its roof and the Madison County Emergency Management headquarters was damaged, Pickering said. Tornado damage to buildings and homes was also reported in Obion and Weakly counties in western Tennessee, he said. A tornado cut a path of destruction through northeast Arkansas Sunday, damaging homes and buildings but with only one serious injury reported, officials in the area said. In Woodruff County, the storm caused "a lot of structural damage," but the full extent of damage is not yet known, according to the Woodruff County Sheriff's Department. The damaged area -- located 70 miles northeast of Little Rock -- has been blocked off and emergency officials still don't know the extent of destruction, a dispatcher with the Woodruff County Sheriff's Department said. According to the Arkansas Emergency Management Agency, 10 to 15 houses were destroyed between the towns of Patterson and McCrory in Woodruff County. A fire station in McCrory was also reportedly destroyed, the EMA said. One serious injury from a tornado was reported in the White County town of El Paso, Arkansas, about 25 miles north of Little Rock, according to Arkansas Emergency Management spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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