A tornado killed three people today in Arkansas and at least three people died in Missouri, officials say. Forecast say more severe weather may be on the way. Read more after the jump…
@ItsLukieBaby
(CNN) — A line of fast-moving storms and possible tornadoes stretching from the Gulf Coast states to Illinois left at least six people dead Friday and caused widespread damage to homes and businesses, as forecasters warned of more potentially severe weather.
Three people died in the small northwestern Arkansas town of Cincinnati, which reported power outages after the strong storm went through, said Ann Upton, the county’s emergency management deputy.
Two additional fatalities occurred in Dent County, Missouri, according to Salem police spokeswoman Wanda Suhr.
Another storm-related death occurred at a home just north of Rolla, Missouri, about 106 miles southwest of St. Louis, according to Phelps County Emergency Management spokeswoman Sandy North.
The storm also left 12 people injured and caused damage in Benton County, Arkansas, near the state lines with Oklahoma and Missouri, officials said.
Five people from the area were in critical condition, said Washington Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Terry Fox.
Deadly tornado strikes Arkansas Deadly storm hits Arkansas Minor injuries, no deaths from tornado
She said she had also heard reports that “several people were trapped.”
Six homes and four chicken production facilities were destroyed in the storm, while five homes suffered moderate to heavy damage, said Matt Garrity, Benton County’s manager of emergency services.
A fire station, three buildings and one store were also damaged, said Garrity, and an airport that serves northwestern Arkansas was closed due to debris in the area.
“We are in part of tornado alley,” he said. “So even a small storm does a lot of damage.”
Emergency crews are currently surveying the extent of the damage and “making sure that no one is trapped,” he said.
The storm also killed two horses, according to Garrity.
Elsewhere, the fast-moving storm caused injuries and damage in Pulaski and Laclede counties in Missouri, knocking out power at Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army post that took a direct hit from an apparent tornado, according to Laclede County Emergency Management spokesman Gail Teter.
Teter reported some injuries, although initial attempts to contact the base were unsuccessful.
The series of storms that moved through Oklahoma and into northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri have reached speeds of 40 mph and passed through more populated areas in St. Louis, Missouri, and the surrounding municipalities.
Search and rescue workers were deployed to assess the storm’s damage in St. Louis County, where there were reports of injuries, according to Mark Diedrich, the county’s emergency management acting director.
CNN affiliate KMOV on Friday broadcast images of heavy damage — including destroyed homes and overturned vehicles — in Sunset Hills, Missouri, approximately 15 miles southwest of St. Louis.
“It’s causing havoc,” said Sunset Hills police spokeswoman Donna Palasky.
The storm also left heavy structural damage to buildings in its wake — including a popular shopping center and Catholic church — in the town of Fenton, some 18 miles southwest of St. Louis, said Fenton Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Heidbreder.
Emergency crews are surveying the damage, he said, but there were no reports of injuries.
In the nearby town of Ballwin, police spokeman Jim Heldmann said the storm caused heavy damage to homes and buildings but no injuries were reported at this time.
The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management issued a tornado advisory as bad weather lingered in the state, instructing residents to seek shelter in their home’s interior rooms or on its lowest floor.
“When a tornado is sighted, the most important rule is to get low and stay low,” the statement said.
