Gov.: Twister Damage 'Wrath Of God'
Death Toll From Devastating Swarm Of Tornadoes In 8 States At 28
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Play CBS Video Video Tornado Death Toll Rises After dozens of tornadoes ripped through the Midwest and all the missing people were accounted for, the death toll is more than two dozen. Teri Okita reports from Dyer County, Tenn.
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Video Recovering From Twisters The south and Midwest region are cleaning up from the twisters that ravaged seven states. Jim Acosta reports on how the community is recovering from the damage.
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Video Tenn. Gov. On Twister Damage Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen speaks with Julie Chen about twister damage that leveled homes and businesses in his state, and how the community is going about the cleanup.
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Lisa Scott gets a kiss from a neighbors dog at the site of her destroyed home, Monday, April 3, 2006 in Millsfield, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mike Brown)
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Betty Sisk weeps on the slab that was her garage on Monday, April 3, 2006 in Newbern, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mike Brown)
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A home east of Dyersburg, Tenn., is shown Monday, April 3, 2006, after severe weather moved through the area. (AP Photo/John L. Focht)
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Pastor Garrett Sweeney looks at the remains of his home in Rutherford, Tenn., April 3, 2006. (AP Photo/Mike Brown)
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The inside of an apartment sits exposed April 3, 2006, after a wall and roof of the building collapsed during a storm in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)
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Photos Midwest Mess Devastating storms ripped through urban and rural communities, causing several deaths.
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Interactive Funnels Of Fury Explore how and where tornadoes are formed and witness their destructive power.
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News Tools Disaster Links Looking for disaster-related information on the Web? Go to the CBS News Disaster Links web site put together by CBS News Producer and Technologist "Digital Dan" Dubno.
"The wrath of God is the only way I can describe it," Gov. Phil Bredesen said after a helicopter tour of the damaged region.
He said Tennessee was up to 24 deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed by Sunday's storms. The latest victim was found in the rubble of a home in the community of Millsfield, officials said. Emergency crews were still out searching for possible victims, but no one else was known to be missing, Bredesen said.
"Your heart just has to go out to these communities that have been hit in this way. It's been awful," the governor told CBS News'The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen.
"I have never seen anything like this, and I've been through several tornadoes. I'm used to seeing roofs off houses, houses blown over, these houses were down to their foundations, stripped clean," Bredesen said. "It really stripped the earth clean."
Joshua Medley remembers vividly how he and his mother clung to each other in a closet as a tornado bore down on their Newbern home. The ordeal lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime.
"We got lifted up in the air and the house was spinning," said Medley, whose 1,500-square foot home was moved 12 feet from its foundation. "I didn't think we were going to make it."
Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., who accompanied Bredesen on the tour, said his cousin Janie King, 57, was killed by a tornado that destroyed her home near Newbern.
"When you have 20-something fatalities, that's just a number. This really puts a face to it," Tanner said, visibly shaken.
The storms destroyed homes and buildings across parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, CBS News correspondent Jim Acosta reports. Strong wind was blamed for at least three deaths in Missouri, and one man died in a store collapse in southern Illinois.
©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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