Severe storms – including possible tornadoes – have taken the lives of at least 16 people in Missouri and southeastern Kentucky, where nine people died in Laurel County, authorities said early Saturday.
The additional deaths in Kentucky come on the heels of fatalities reported hours earlier in the St. Louis, Missouri, area, which saw widespread destruction during the storms. Seven people were reported dead in Missouri.
In all, large tornadoes have been reported in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.
The string of reported tornadoes and severe storms has damaged homes and downed power lines across the Midwest and Great Lakes, brought by the same system that produced destructive storms and tornadoes Thursday.
More than 700,000 homes and businesses across a dozen states were without power as of early Saturday, with Missouri and Kentucky among the hardest hit, according to Poweroutage.us.
It’s all part of a multi-day spate of widespread severe weather that will stretch into early next week.
Southeastern Kentucky ‘pummeled’ by possible tornado, officials say
Nine people died after a possible tornado in southeastern Kentucky, according to Laurel County sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Gilbert Acciardo.
Video from Laurel County showed damaged cars, downed trees and piles of debris as first responders descended on the Sunshine Hills area.
“Multiple fatalities have been confirmed as a result of a tornado that pummeled Laurel County late Friday evening,” Laurel County Fiscal Court said earlier in a Facebook post, citing the Laurel-Whitley County Emergency Management Office.
“Destroyed homes and buildings are still being searched by emergency responders. Multiple serious injuries also have been reported,” the post read.
The deaths were also announced by London Mayor Randall Weddle, CNN affiliate WKYT reported. London is about 75 miles south of Lexington, in Kentucky’s Laurel County.
CNN reached out to emergency officials for more details about how many have died.
The National Weather Service reported a radar-confirmed, “large, extremely dangerous” tornado sweeping east across lower Kentucky shortly after midnight.
Video and photos from southeastern Kentucky show a trail of destruction that began in Pulaski County before moving east into neighboring Laurel County.
Earlier, the Laurel County Fiscal Court posted videos of widespread damage to buildings, cars, trees and infrastructure in the wake of the possible tornado.
Police in Corbin, south of London, were responding to mutual aid calls for tornado victims and described the devastation as overwhelming.
“Stop and pray for Laurel County residents and victims of the tornado that touched down there,” the department wrote.
Heavy damage can be seen in Somerset, a city in Pulaski County to the west of London, where emergency officials urged residents to stay indoors.
“The southern side of the city has been hit by a possible tornado!” the Somerset Fire Department posted on social media around 11 p.m. Friday. “Please avoid the area, poles and power lines are down!”
Pulaski County Judge Executive Marshall Todd has declared a state of emergency, and crews are working on cleanup efforts, county spokesperson John Alexander told CNN.
At least 7 killed in Missouri
A storm that produced a devastating tornado in the St. Louis area Friday afternoon has left at least five people dead and many others injured, according to local authorities.
The National Weather Service had warned of an “extremely dangerous tornado” tracking through part of St. Louis.
It’s unclear how many were injured in the St. Louis area. 15 patients were sent to St. Louis Children’s Hospital, while Barnes-Jewish Hospital received another 20 to 30 people injured in the storm, hospital spokesperson Laura High told the Associated Press.
CNN reached out to the hospitals about the number of injured and their conditions.
“This is truly a lot of damage,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said. Several buildings have collapsed and “a lot of roofs are missing,” as a result of the storm.
“Basically every window” in the city’s firehouse was “blown out” by the storm, said St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, which damaged around 20 square blocks of the city.
About 500 first responders are working to conduct a “very extensive search of all these buildings” overnight, Jenkerson said. “This is going to be a very exhausting and extensive search pattern right now.”
“Our priority is life and saving lives and keeping people safe tonight,” Spencer added. She urged St. Louis residents to stay off the roads Friday night and stay off their phones if they can, due to “limited cell phone access.”
A curfew was put into place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in two police districts due to the damage, and authorities are working to declare a state of emergency in the city, she added. The damage will “require a massive cleanup effort.”
Some of the tornado sirens did not go off, which will be investigated, said Sarah Russell, commissioner of the city’s emergency management agency. The focus now is on life-saving measures in the community, she added.
More than 130 miles to the south, in Missouri’s Scott County, two others were killed during Friday’s storms, Sheriff Derick Wheetley announced on social media.
Several others were taken to medical facilities, “with injuries ranging from minor to severe,” the sheriff added.
“The tornado moved from the eastern part of the county, leaving behind a trail of destruction, with multiple homes completely lost and areas left unrecognizable,” the sheriff said.
Damaging storm risks persist for days
Severe thunderstorms are possible in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday as the same storm driving Thursday and Friday’s threats pushes east. Damaging wind gusts and hail are the greatest threats for now, but a tornado can’t be ruled out.
New storms could bring damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes to parts of the southern Plains starting Saturday afternoon.
The Plains will remain the main focus of severe weather on Sunday and Monday as well, with damaging storms possible in much of Oklahoma and Kansas. The severe thunderstorm threat will then shift back into parts of the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday.
More details about the exact risks these storms will pose and the populations under threat next week will become clear in the coming days.
CNN’s Ray Sanchez and Scott Withers contributed to this report.