Six people were killed and dozens of homes devastated when up to 80 tornadoes struck Illinois and the surrounding states
States of emergency have been issued for seven Illinois counties in the wake of a series of powerful tornadoes that blew flipped over cars and uprooted trees.
Dozens of people were injured in the unusually powerful, late-season tornadoes. Three people were killed in Massac County, two in Washington County and one person died in the city of Washington, Tazewell County.
There are fears that some residents are still trapped inside their collapsed homes.
The National Weather Service confirmed preliminary EF-4 tornado damage in Washington County in southern Illinois, with winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour.
The storms moved dangerously fast, tracking east at 60 miles per hour, with most damage caused within just five hours.
In two communities, including the Illinois town of Washington, population 15,000, one of the estimated 60 twisters smashed through and destroyed at least 70 homes.
Dozens of injured residents were rushed to nearby Peoria, Illinois, for medical treatment as rescuers continued to scour leveled neighborhoods in search of survivors trapped beneath debris.
A man stands near a pickup that belonged to farmer Curt Zehr after a tornado blew through Zehr's farm on Sunday
DEVASTATION ACROSS THE MIDWEST: ILLINOIS TO INDIANA AND BEYOND
OHIO
Heavy winds from storms rolling through Ohio caused damage to buildings and have left thousands without power. More than 38,000 customers are without power across northwest Ohio due to the storm.
WISCONSIN
Strong winds knocked out power to thousands in the Milwaukee area, damaged buildings and downed trees in Dodge County and sent Sunday churchgoers scrambling into church basements for safety. In the town of Hustisford, cattle sheds, garages and storage sheds were damaged, said Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joseph Meagher said. No injuries were immediately reported, he said.
MICHIGAN
High winds and rain slammed into the western part of the state. There are no immediate reports of injuries, but utilities reported tens of thousands of power outages. Churches in western Michigan canceled evening worship services.
KENTUCKY
Tornadoes were spotted in at least eight Kentucky counties and at least one home had its roof blown off, a spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management said. Buddy Rogers said it was unclear how many of those tornadoes actually touched down. He said a home in Rochester in Butler County had its roof blown off and there were reports of damages to homes and other structures in the various counties, but no reports of injuries.
MISSOURI
Severe storms slammed the eastern part of Missouri, leaving tens of thousands without power and destroying a mobile home. The National Weather Service said the storm tore shingles off of roofs and uprooted trees across parts of St. Louis and St. Louis County. Ameren Missouri reported more than 37,000 outages Sunday afternoon, mostly in the St. Louis area.
Rescuers pull an injured resident from a demolished house in Illinois on Sunday, 17th November 2013
A car sits halfway in a basement at a leveled home near Home Avenue and Hoffer Street in Kokomo, Indiana.
Photos taken in the wake of the Washington tornado show entirely demolished neighborhoods with houses turned to matchsticks and cars stuck in limbless trees.
A mattress is wrapped around a tree on Devonshire Street in Washington, Illinois on Sunday following the storm. Destroyed cars and homes made into matchsticks littered the town southwest of Chicago
But Washington wasn't the only affected town in the now shell-shocked Midwest.
Tony Laubach watched another tornado touch down in Lebanon, Indiana--a town nearly 200 miles to the east of Washington.
'These storms having been moving so fast today, it's been hard to keep up,' said Laubach, who is a storm chaser.
Around 50 tornadoes were reported up until 4pm today as part of a severe, unpredictable and unusually late in the season storm system. The number grew to 60 within two hours but some say the figure was closer to 80.
Chuck Phillips looks out at the damage inflicted by a tornado on his Pekin, Illinois neighborhood
'Attention: Please clear the stadium seating area and relocate to the nearest covered concourse. Please remain calm and leave the seating area in an orderly fashion,' a message on one of Soldier Field's jumbotrons read. The game resumed after a two-hour delay.
The tornado warning for Cook County, Illinois has been dropped but now Indiana and Kentucky are on high alert. In Illinois flights are still grounded at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports and approximately 83,000 are without power in the area.
Entire neighborhoods in Washington have been destroyed and acres of land are strewn with debris
Meteorologists blamed the "strong jet stream" for the storms.
Comment: TV meteorologists blame the "strong jet stream" for the storms and said that such a 'high risk' warning has only been issued in this area of the USA four times since 1980. There is evidence to suggest however that it is not the strength of the jet stream that is causing such usual and destructive weather patterns but the fact that the jet stream appears to have become 'unhinged' in recent years from its usual, mostly uniform, circulation pattern at higher latitudes. In recent years, the jet stream has regularly performed 'loops' south, bringing cold arctic air with it. When this cold air meets warm air from the south, and combined with the air speed of the jet stream itself, you have a perfect recipe for major and violent storms.
Such events are just a small part of a growing number of severe and historically (at least in our recent history) anomalous climate events, including, but not limited to, increased earthquakes, hurricanes typhoons and cyclones, sinkholes, volcanic eruptions, animal die-offs and meteorite sightings and impacts.
Unlike the individuals in the video below, we suggest that something more than a couple of 'our fathers and hail marys' is going to be necessary if humanity is to survive the increasing planetary chaos, brought on by a psychopathic and corrupt elite and an apathetic and dumbed-down population.
weather yesterday. I live in the midwest, and the temperature went from 80 degrees to 50 degrees in a very short time. The wind was as bad as any spring time storm I have seen. And it's November.