VIDEO: Storm system that killed 3 in Midwest rumbles eastward

Debris marks the spots Wednesday, March 1, 2017, where Tuesday's tornado destroyed homes in Perryville, Mo.
Debris marks the spots Wednesday, March 1, 2017, where Tuesday's tornado destroyed homes in Perryville, Mo.

ST. LOUIS — A spring-like storm system spawned tornadoes that destroyed more than 100 homes and killed three people in the central U.S. before it rumbled eastward Wednesday, putting about 95 million people in its path, forecasters said.

The compact but strong storms, known as supercells, moved into the region Tuesday and raked parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri before moving into Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Forecasters with the Storm Prediction Center said the storm system appeared headed toward the mid-Atlantic states and southern New England, and that New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., could be affected.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., received about two dozen reports of possible tornadoes late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Warning coordination meteorologist Patrick Marsh said crews are still determining if damage was from tornadoes or straight-line winds and how many twisters touched down.

Marsh said a strong storm system moved from the Mountain West and collided with warm and humid air in the central U.S., which has enjoyed an unusually warm winter and where temperatures Tuesday were well into the 70s in many places.

"That's why we saw storms more representative of late March and April," Marsh said. "The atmosphere doesn't care what the calendar says."

In Illinois, an uprooted tree killed a person in Ottawa, 70 miles southwest of Chicago, state Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said. Minor injuries were also reported at an Ottawa nursing home.

An apparent tornado struck a building near a house in the southeastern Illinois town of Crossville, killing a 71-year-old man and injuring his wife, White County Coroner Chris Marsh said.

In Missouri, several vehicles were blown off of Interstate 55 near Perryville, 65 miles southeast of St. Louis. A man in one of those vehicles died, Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Justin Wheatley said. The wind was so strong that it lifted crumpled cars from a nearby salvage yard and tossed them along the highway.

Nearly 110 homes in the Perryville area were destroyed and about 20 people in Perry County suffered minor injuries, Wheatley said.

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