Wells and his son fled beforehand to his sister’s house to take cover in the basement. “I was just numb, thinking about all these other people, what they’re going through.'Īnother survivor, Josh Wells, said the tornado ripped half the roof off his Glen Allen home and pushed in his bedroom wall. “That was a sad, sad sight, knowing there was bodies in there,” said Collier, who wasn’t entirely relieved when he saw his facility was spared. And wintry weather also returned to New York and New England on Wednesday: Snow, freezing rain and sleet are possible in the region until Thursday morning.Ĭharles Collier, 61, spotted the coroner’s van driving by with its lights on in Glen Allen, where he owns a storage facility. At least 63 people have been killed in this early part of the season for severe storms.įarther north, blizzard conditions continued across parts of the Upper Midwest, primarily in the Dakotas and Minnesota. The latest line of destructive weather comes less than a week after dozens of tornadoes roared through the Midwest and South, killing more than 30 people and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. A roof was torn off a gas station with a wall collapsed. In Illinois, the weather service found evidence of an EF-2 tornado with maximum winds of 120 mph near Colona on Tuesday. A tornado watch remained in effect across portions of those states until early evening. Severe storms could also produce strong tornadoes and large hail across parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky later on Wednesday, the weather service warned. Watches, warnings, the EF scale and risk: How the National Weather Service talks tornadoes National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Gibbs said it appeared initially that a tornado was on the ground for 15 minutes, traveling an estimated 15-20 miles.īased on early data, the Glen Allen tornado received a preliminary EF-2 rating, packing wind speeds of 130 mph. Larry Welker, Bollinger County’s public administrator, said the twister traveled along state Route 34 into Glen Allen, a village of slightly more than 100 people. “I’m getting reports that it was pretty bad,” he said. Graham said in a post on his office's Facebook account. Graham noted he was withholding the names of the dead until their families were notified. The twister caused significant destruction in and around Glen Allen and the neighboring small rural community of Grassy, Bollinger County Sheriff Casey A. Mike Parson toured the storm damage area and said President Joe Biden called to assure him of federal help. He added that the death toll might rise as crews sift through the rubble of homes. Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol said. Crews had to use chainsaws to cut back trees and brush to reach homes, he said. Twelve structures were destroyed and dozens more damaged, authorities said. The Missouri Highway Patrol tweeted that they were assisting agencies in Bollinger County in search and recovery efforts near the village of Glen Allen, about 100 miles south of St. Tornadoes were reported in parts of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri late Tuesday and early Wednesday, and severe storms forced brief ground stops at major airports in Austin, Chicago and Detroit. Watch Video: Tornadoes tear across Iowa as severe weather strikes the MidwestĪ tornado that slammed into southeastern Missouri early Wednesday caused at least five deaths and injuries to five people, and prompted a feverish search for survivors in the wreckage, authorities said.

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