(Photo Credit: KWTV-KOTV via AP Photo)

Missouri Tornado Takes Three Lives

A deadly tornado ripped through Missouri last night, causing extensive damage in the capital city of Jefferson City and killing at least three people.

“A powerful tornado, part of a band of storms that raged through the Plains and the Midwest, struck the Missouri capital late Wednesday, destroying homes and businesses, felling power poles and sparking a vast emergency response as officials faced reports of trapped people and unstable buildings,” The New York Times reports. “The full scale of the devastation was not immediately clear, but the Missouri Department of Public Safety said the damage in part of Jefferson City, the capital, was ‘extensive.’ Shelters opened, and state troopers and local emergency officials were going door-to-door searching for survivors on Thursday morning.”

Many residents of the Jefferson City area were asleep when the tornadoes touched down. One trucker, David Bell, was asleep in his truck when tornado winds blew a house underneath his trailer.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Bell told local news stations. “I watched a bunch of transformers blown. Houses next to me completely obliterated. A house halfway underneath my trailer… I saw signs flying. I saw signs layover. And then all I could do is brace myself for the impact. It seemed like it lasted forever.”

Emergency crews are now searching homes to find survivors who might be trapped inside.