Tornado-Like Storms Slam Midwest - East Idaho News
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Tornado-Like Storms Slam Midwest

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Thinkstock N 041811 Twister?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1330522596928Comstock/Thinkstock (file photo)(BRANSON, Mo.) — The Midwest is recovering from tornado-like storms that blew through Nebraska and Missouri Tuesday before touching down in Kansas, killing at least one person and causing extensive damage. The town of Branson, Mo., was hit hard by the storms.

A possible tornado that blew through a mobile home park outside of Buffalo, Mo., killed one person and injured 13 others, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed.

The final casualty count in the tourist destination of Branson still remains to be seen as sheriff officers there move from house to house to search for victims.

In Kansas, the small town of Harveyville, just south of Topeka, was hit especially hard by a tornado that touched down just after 9 p.m.

“The town was taken out by about 40 percent of the buildings in the community,” Sharon Watson, director of public affairs for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office told ABC News.  “A significant amount of it has been destroyed a lot of homes damaged, a lot of buildings down including a church and an apartment complex.”

Officials also say that one person who was trapped in a building had to be extricated from underneath debris and was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback declared a state of emergency after the storm, which also closed highways and struck down power lines throughout the area.

The National Weather Service also reported lesser force tornadoes occurred elsewhere in the state, touching down southwest of the town of Hutchinson.

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