By Kim Bell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch –
HARRISBURG, Ill. — At least six people were killed and about 100 were injured after an apparent tornado early Wednesday ripped through the southern end of Harrisburg, authorities say.
(PHOTO: Ameren Missouri crews and utility workers worked to restore power to residents and businesses along St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton, Missouri, Wednesday, February 29, 2012, after multiple reports of tornadoes lashed the Midwest.)
“I see crushed houses all over the place,” a hospital executive in Harrisburg said, as ambulances continued to arrive with seriously injured residents.
Harrisburg, a town of 9,000 about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, is in Saline County.
Emergency responders were scrambling after the tornado hit just before 5 a.m. CST Wednesday. Severe storms also hit southwest Missouri overnight, and at least three people were killed, according to the governor’s office.
The deaths in Missouri included one person who died at a trailer home park in the town of Buffalo and a man who died in Cassville. The tourist town of Branson was heavily damaged.
