Tornadoes Hit 3 States; Homes Damaged

Tornadoes moved across Texas, Arkansas and Missouri on Wednesday in a renewed assault of thunderstorms while crews continued to clear the wreckage of more than 100 homes damaged by twisters that ripped through six states.

Two twisters in central Texas overturned mobile homes, tore off roofs and toppled utility poles Wednesday, and winds in excess of 50 m.p.h. blew over trailers and highway signs and downed power lines across northern parts of the state. No injuries were reported.

A tornado touched down Wednesday night in the southern Arkansas town of Fordyce, injuring at least three people and causing widespread damage to a residential area, said state police Capt. John Kidwell.

In central Missouri, tornadoes damaged five businesses about five miles east of Columbia and hurled 18-wheel trucks on top of a building. “It just picked those transports up and just tossed them like match sticks,” said Richard Head of Head Auto Sales.

In parts of Nebraska, farm animals were reported running loose after winds ripped apart fences, and train cars that were tipped over during the storms littered railroad tracks.

Tornadoes on Tuesday damaged homes and other property in Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas. At least two people were killed and 29 were injured.

Seventy-eight tornadoes were reported Tuesday, 25 in Kansas alone, said Ed Ferguson of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City. Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden declared eight counties to be disaster areas.

The worst of the tornadoes damaged more than 75 homes in Hesston, Kan., 35 miles north of Wichita, Ferguson said. The extensive damage caused authorities to cordon off the town of 4,000 on Wednesday, barricading all roads and guarding heavily damaged residential areas and businesses.

A Highway Patrol officer stood guard outside the Hesston State Bank, which lost its roof and part of a wall.

Missouri received heavy rain Wednesday as several lines of thunderstorms swept across the state during the morning.

Flooding was a concern in Oklahoma. “The ground is completely saturated over much of the state,” meteorologist Ken Huckabee said.

Heavy snow made travel hazardous in parts of Wyoming, North Dakota and Montana.

Rain flooded rural roads in southwestern Wisconsin, and a dam on a creek that was pounded by floating ice gave way Wednesday, causing a flood threat downstream on the Trempealeau River at the city of Arcadia, officials said.

Meanwhile, at least 31 cities from the Mississippi Valley eastward reported record or record-tying high temperatures Wednesday, the third day of unseasonable warmth. The records included 85 at Baltimore, 75 at Detroit, 76 at Indianapolis, 80 at Rochester, N.Y., and 86 at Washington’s National Airport. The high at Indianapolis erased a record on the books since 1875, the weather service reported.