BREAKING NEWS: Deadly outbreak of tornado's hit midwest

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the counties that include Minneapolis and St. Paul, and says it has received a report of a tornado just north of downtown.

The weather services say it received reports of the tornado at 2:11 p.m. Wednesday. Radar shows the storm is moving north at about 20 mph. It reportedly damaged a downtown church.

 The tornado warning covers central Anoka County, northeastern Hennepin County and western Ramsey County. It remained in effect until 2:45 p.m.

Electric Fetus reported on their Twitter page that their building sustained damage and had closed.

 Viewer photos showed downed trees in south Minneapolis. The tornado began just north of Mound in Minnetrista, moved through Orono, Long Lake, and into Plymouth in Hennepin County, Minnesota, locations 10-20 miles west of downtown Minneapolis. It carved a 9.5 mile path that was 200 yards wide, according to the National Weather Service damage survey.

It took parts of roofs off two homes and a business, felled trees onto homes and vehicles, and tossed around boats at Long Lake.

You can see some of the overturned boat docks at Long Lake in the photo below (courtesy of KMSP-TV).The supercell continued northeastward across the north side of the Minneapolis metro and the north side of the St. Paul metro without further tornadoes, but did produce EF1 and EF0 tornadoes in St. Croix County Wisconsin.

As residents and clean-up crews survey the damage from what appears to be a tornado in south Minneapolis, a stretch of Portland Avenue and some of the surrounding streets seems to be the worst hit.

BREAKING NOW:
Joplin Pounded By Tornado, Heavy Damage Reported
A large multi-vortex tornado hit Joplin Sunday evening and caused heavy damage as the city took a direct hit.

Several media reports said that numerous buildings along Rangeline Road, Highways 37 and 96 were demolished. Another media report stated that St. John's Hospital was hit directly, along with a Walgreens, Home Depot and several other locations.There was no initial reports of if anyone was injured in the tornado. St. John's Regional Medical Center had structural damage and may have caught fire. Neighborhoods near the hospital appeared to have been leveled from television reports.

Sunday's afternoon tornado in Joplin, Missouri has killed at least one person and injured many more.

The National Weather Service reports buildings have been leveled, and the regional medical center was directly in the path of the storm and has suffered heavy damage. Portions of the top of St. John's Hospital were sheared off. There are concerns about an explosion at the medical facility.

Springfield-based ambulances and EMS workers are being sent to St. John's in Joplin, where the west tower was struck by a tornado.

Around 5:30 p.m. a multi-vortex tornado was reported near 13th and Rangeline Road with reports of damage to numerous trees and houses.

Ambulances can be seen around the entrance to the facility as some patients are being relocated.

A nearby gas station has been flattened, and a convenience store has been reduced to its foundation.

Dazed residents are on the streets of the neighborhood, helping some into wheelchairs, crying and hugging each other, and working with police and firefighters as they begin the process of accounting for everyone.

About two miles southeast of Joplin, the neighborhood at 22nd and Blackcat road saw massive damage to homes and trees, with people trapped in debris.

There are also reports of the Home Depot, Payless Shoes, Walgreens, and Pizza Hut being heavily damaged in that area.

Between mile markers 10 and 12 on I-44, there were reports of trees stripped of bark and more than 20 semi trucks and cars overturned.

Debris has been reported several miles away.

"I live in Nixa and just found a Check from Joplin Mo dated in 1980," Emily Deese tells KOLR/KSFX.

The National Weather Service also reported a tornado on the ground just north of Pierce City around 6:30 p.m. and a possible tornado on the ground near Freistatt at 6:40 p.m.

Structures were reported damaged on Highway 97 north of Pierce City.

Power poles were reported down across Highway V and the highway was ruled impassible with tornado damage.


ATI, Arkansas:
Storms have hit more than nine states, and watches and warnings continue into the early morning hours in some areas.  A severe outbreak of tornadoes has killed 3 people in Cincinnati, Arkansas along with numeroud injuries and damage to homes with more twisters expected to develop in parts of Missouri and Illinois.

"In the winter you don't always have the instability" that would allow tornadoes to develop, said Chris Buonanno, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in North Little Rock "This time, we have the instability."

City Pages Music Editor Andrea Swensson visited Electric Fetus this afternoon to survey the damage from a possible tornado today. The record store has closed for the day to take care of the shattered windows and other structural damage