Severe storms kill 1 in northern Missouri

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) " Violent storms that spawned at least one tornado left a path of destruction in northern Missouri on Wednesday, killing a woman and damaging dozens of buildings.

The city of Kirksville apparently took the hardest hit. Police Det. Sgt. Ron Celian said about 30 to 40 homes were damaged, one was destroyed and an auto dealership sustained significant damage.

Two people were injured near the dealership when their car was blown off the road, Kirksville police Det. Sgt. Ron Celian said.

Sullivan County Emergency Management director Rick Gardner said a woman was killed when what appeared to be a tornado struck a mobile home east of Milan. Her name had not been released late Wednesday.

Gardner said the woman's husband and another man survived unharmed in a workshop next to the mobile home.

Julie Adolphson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Pleasant Hill, said a tornado hit Kirksville and Novinger, both in Adair County.

Knox County emergency dispatcher Jeanette Randall said a storm hit Edina on Wednesday evening, with storm spotters reporting multiple funnel clouds. No injuries were reported, but a barn was destroyed and power lines were damaged, she said.

U.S. 63, a major north-south highway, was closed in the Kirksville area because of a gas-line leak and downed power lines. Power outages were reported in Sullivan and Adair counties.

In Caddo County in southwest Oklahoma, a possible tornado damaged homes and businesses in Anadarko, authorities said.

"There are power lines down everywhere and firefighters are going door-to-door to check and see if people are trapped in cellars," said Caddo County Emergency Management Director Larry McDuffey.

Dozens of inmates were evacuated from the Caddo County jail because of a gas line break, McDuffey said.

The latest storms come less than a week after another batch of severe weather, including at least a dozen confirmed tornadoes, ravaged parts of southern Missouri. Those storms killed four people and damaged or destroyed several hundred homes.

The emergency management agency reported that thousands of customers remained without power Wednesday from Friday's storms.

In Illinois, National Weather Service Wednesday night issued tornado watches for more than 30 counties, in areas ranging from the St. Louis suburbs to Chicago. Weather officials said the storms could produce very large hail, lightning, heavy rainfall and wind gusts in excess of 70 mph.