Page 22 - Ef 4 News Today

It was a matter of minutes between the wail of the sirens and the roar of the funnel cloud. a storm chaser was caught in the middle of it. >> its not like it is in the movies. i didnt see a pretty blue center. i did look up. the debris was unbelievable. it was very dark. the wind, i cant really describe. it was a sound of just, you know, they say freight train but its just a roar thats just ear piercing. >> reporter: as quickly as it hit it left behind a carved path of destruction. homes ripped ...

And the death toll is rising this morning after a series of powerful tornadoes slammed through the midwest yesterday. >> the hardest state hit by far is illinois. this was captured in suburb of washington where ef-4 tornado touched town and packing winds 165 miles an hour. can you hear the sheer terror as one tornado passes by this home. do you hear that? they are praying as a massive stormed passed by their home. rescuers have been out since yesterday looking for anyone alive in all of the wrec...

You see the outline of the skyline. and then youre going to see it go dark. you saw it right there. you can only imagine what these folks were going through and the power of these storms. were talking about this earlier. the power of mother nature, youre seeing it unfold right now on your television screen. like i was saying, theres a lot of prayers floating out on social media right now, including for this one woman. 102 years old, loretta. we were talking about her earlier in this newscast. he...

Really stripped of their bark here. power lines are down. and you can only see really interior walls left here of the homes that used to be here. so what is going on? today, the national weather service is going to come out and survey the damage. it is preliminary reports are thinking an ef-4 but they have to survey the damage and see what the structural integrity was of those homes. once they look at that they will be able to determine what wind damage could take down that strul integrity and f...

It says on the screen, washington, we are getting more pictures if from washington so we will go define washington and gifford, both hit very bad with heartbreaking damage to livelihoods -- businesses and homes destroyed. our meteorologist, janice dean, is in the fox weather center. it is a long day and it is not over. >> preliminary reports here from the national weather service the tornado, an ef-4, preliminary reports from washington county, illinois, where we saw the pictures, winds up to 16...

Incredible damage in parts of illinois in and around the peoria area, in and around washington, illinois where we have seven confirmed tornadoes. these are all tornado warnings that have happened within the last hour or so and damage that looks like it could be an ef-4 that moved through around the washington, illinois area. the damage is incredible. i just hope that folks took shelter when the warnings went out. and then moving up towards the north and east, several tornado warnings in and arou...

Into northwestern, kentucky and into parts of tennessee. some may be the same tornado touching down multiple times. i want to point out, we have a number of watches out, tornado watches. please listen to the weather radio. and if a warning is issued, take cover immediately. especially if you are in a mobile home. i want to point out what we have heard out of washington county, illinois. not the city of washington. where we just heard mr. monken speak. but there is about an hour outside of st. lo...

Its not going to get worse for you. everybody else, theyre still trying to pick up pieces through here. about -- ill say 20, it could be 20 to 30. a 30-mile wide f-4 tornado sat over your house for 30 minutes as the eye rolled from one side to the other. thats what these people dealt with. even in america, an f-4 tornado goes by and hits your house for eight seconds and its gone. this was a lumbering storm over these areas not just for ten seconds but more tens of minutes. once you lose a board ...

Goes at the indianapolis 500. and you get hit by winds or waves or boards or shingles coming off the roofs. theres a lot more damage but we cant show you because we dont have the pictures yet. >> category 5, thats the highest. but this is probably a lot higher than that? >> its like saying my car cant go more than 120 because thats where my speedometer says. catsgoer 5 starts at 1 56 and goes up. were 40 miles per hour over what a category 5. were talking about ef-4 tornado that was ten or 20 mi...

More from abcs ginger zee. violent, large tornado. >> reporter: we know that colossal tornado in nebraska was ef-4. winds 170 miles an hour. ripping across the earth for 19 miles. >> oh, god! >> reporter: it crushed the airport, destroyed ten homes and sent a dozen people to the hospital. >> the tornado was right in front of her house. >> reporter: the same cold front that kicked up the tornado did this to louisville. more than a half foot of water falling in just hours. basements full of floa...