Powerful storm system pounds Midwest, moving east

A huge storm system is slamming the Midwest and moving toward the East.

A line of powerful storms is churning near the Great Lakes, and at least 10 tornadoes have been reported, including in Avoca, Iowa, where an EF-1 tornado blasted the state Wednesday along with a dangerous mix of heavy rain and violent wind, CBS News' Adriana Diaz reports.

"Petrifying. Your house shakes, and you think it's going to come off. You hear glass breaking. Started praying, crying, thinking about your family," one Iowan said.

The howling winds toppled trees, tore down power lines and flipped over semi-trucks. People who live in the area were shaken.

"It sounded like more than one freight train out together. I've never heard a sound like that in my whole life," said another resident.

The storm system stretched to Missouri, fueling lightning strikes over Chicago and blowing the roof off homes in Kansas.

"It's gone, so now, you know, all I could do is I go to fix it," said a Kansas resident whose home was destroyed.

In Oklahoma, wind gusts of 60 mph whipped several wildfires out of control, burning down homes and forcing evacuations as firefighters struggled to keep up with the flames.

"The wind was originally out of the west, then started blowing to the east, and it didn't matter what we did, we weren't going to stop the fire," a fire chief said.

The same severe storm system dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the Rockies and blanketed roads in Nebraska.

The winds are also heading east to the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and the Northern Plains. The winds will be strongest in the afternoon and could reach 60 mph.