Powerful Midwest Storms Leave Deadly Trail

Residents of communities across Arkansas on Saturday faced the wreckage of homes torn apart by violent weather that has pushed this year's storm death toll in the southern state up to 26.

"You can see the bags under the eyes of the people who consistently over and over again are called on to respond," Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday. "That's their job and that's our job and we'll do it, no matter how many hours it takes or how many days it takes."

Seven Arkansans were killed Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts of four states, and two dozen or more were injured. Emergency officials initially reported eight deaths but revised the figure downward Saturday. Meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across Middle America late Thursday and early Friday.

It was the latest atmospheric assault in what weather watchers say has already been a very active early storm season. Through April there have been 708 tornadoes, compared to 517 during the same period last year, CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan reports. That's nearly 200 more twisters already this year.

On Saturday, the National Weather Service posted tornado watches during the morning for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as an arc of strong thunderstorms rolled across the region. One Saturday morning storm damaged homes in southeastern Louisiana, and state police Sgt. James O'Quinn said a highway in St. Tammany Parish was blocked by water as much as 3 feet deep.

Destruction in Arkansas on Friday ran from Siloam Springs near the Oklahoma line to tiny communities along the Mississippi River. Powerful tornadoes killed 13 people in the state on Feb. 5 and another person on Jan. 8.

"This year it just seems like we're getting pounded," Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Bradley said.

Eighteen Arkansas counties reported damage, including some 400 homes damaged or destroyed, Renee Preslar, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said Saturday.

"There is clean up going on everywhere," Preslar said.

Storms ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Missouri. Oklahoma endured severe hail, and tents tumbled at an open-air market in eastern Texas.

In Arkansas, members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist Church just north of the Van Buren County town of Damascus after a neighbor warned them of the coming storm. They said it was total silence as the storm approached.

"Everybody was afraid," said worker Jesus Estrada, 22.

After the storm, he and others went down the street and aided firefighters who were helping people out of their homes.

Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas.

Beebe said Arkansans would cope with the latest in a string of bad weather. The state has had a foot of snow and a foot of rain. Severe flooding killed at least five people, Preslar said.

"We will fight through it, we will get through it and we will help our neighbors," Beebe said. "We'll do what's necessary to take care of our people."

Six of the deaths Friday were in two counties, Conway and Van Buren, hit hard by the February tornado. That storm, with a 122-mile-long track, had wind estimated at 166 mph to 200 mph. Friday's tornado Friday had wind of 135 mph to 165 mph.

In central Arkansas, a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when the storm destroyed their house just south of Bee Branch, in Van Buren County. "There wasn't anything left," Bradley said.

Another child who lived at the home had already left for school, escaping injury.

Near the Arkansas-Oklahoma line, a 15-year-old girl died early Friday when a storm toppled a tree onto her family's home in Siloam Springs. She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy survived with minor injuries and was pulled from the wreckage by neighbors.

"She was dead on top of him with the tree on top of her. It was just the mattress in between them, and he was screaming `Get it off of me! Get it off of me!"' Chad Tilghman said.

A man and one of his sons died near Birdtown in Conway County; officials initially reported the death of a second son but Saturday he remained hospitalized. The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of Little Rock.

Brandon Baker, Conway County's emergency services director, said six people with "pretty severe" injuries were taken to a hospital. Ten to 20 homes were destroyed in a rural area.

"At this point, we're all at the mercy of Mother Nature," Smith said.

In Oklahoma, storms produced tornadoes, strong winds and large hail, causing structural damage and power outages but no serious injuries, authorities said.

About 10,000 electric customers in the state lost power at one point, but most were back on by Friday afternoon.

At least three tornadoes raked across central and northern Oklahoma, including one in Osage County near Tulsa that was an estimated 100 yards wide.

Earlier, storms late Thursday and early Friday seriously damaged homes and businesses in the Kansas City, Mo., area, and tornadoes were also reported in Texas, although there were no immediate reports of severe damage.

A cold front set off the severe weather. The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for several counties in central and north Arkansas, while trained spotters reported a tornado down near Damascus and another near Carlisle. There also were unconfirmed reports of tornadoes at Center Ridge and near Greers Ferry, and law enforcement agencies reported tornado sightings in East End, Hensley, Keo, and Woodson.