we're following the breaking news this hour, a tornado outbreak that scraped parts of the midwest this morning, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 100. hardest hit, harrisburg, illinois, where at least six people died, including two children. within the last half hour, we learned the tornado was a category ef-4, with winds, get this, up to 170 miles an hour, and as wide as two football fields. in the last hour, the mayor spoke at a grief-stricken news conference. >> we have suffered the loss of lives. we've suffered many injures, and millions of dollars worth of is it damage, but first and foremost the loss of lives breaks my heart today. in neighboring missouri, the governor puts the damage in the tens of millions. there's also damage in kansas and kentucky, where the national guard has been called out. let's get the latest, chad myers is watching what's going on. the heartbreaking to see it, not a whole lot of warning. what's going on now? >> i think the most frightening part is that it happened in the middle of the night. those tornado warning sirens that are outside, they're not made to wake you up. they're made to tell you to go inside. people were already inside. they died in their homes, in their beds because they either didn't have it, didn't have a noaa weather radio. especially in the southeast, it happens every spring, these storms keep going in the nighttime. you talk about nebraska, oklahoma, about sunset the storms die off. in the southeast, especially right here in the harrisburg, in illinois, kind of the south -- i know it's midwest, but they did not stop. even at 5:00 this morning they were still rotating with significant tornadoes on the ground. wolf, i just want to give you an idea of this storm. from where the snow is, to the east and to the west, we're talking 1600 miles. from where the storms noises are in louisiana, all the way back up here to the top of the next watch box, almost up to pittsburgh, pennsylvania, that's 900 miles farther, so the most significant stuff will be here, and then through nashville, down into mississippi, and alabama. that's where these watches will go through the nighttime. the need that noaa weather radio. it's the best $20 or $30 you will ever spend. >> even if you hear it, chad in the middle of 9 night and you're sleeping, are you supposed to run into the bathtub? what are you supposed to do? >> believe it or not, everybody that died here, they all had warning of at least ten minutes. these storms were big. sometimes you won't get a warning on a very small 80, the 0-mile-per-hour storm, maybe they'll be too far away or won't show up on the radar, but these were big tornadoes, so yes they were on doppler ray dare. the the people didn't get the warning or didn't heed it, and sometimes you're if you're a small billing, it isn't survivable even if you are in a -- you have to be endground, and many of these people did not have basements. >> chad, this is still a developing story. stand by. lisa, what are you seeing? >> communities in illinois, kansas and missouri were hit particularly hard, at least six in harrisburg, illinois and three in missouri, and those numbers may go up as rescue crews dig through the collapsed buildings. it was still dark outside when this twister swept near wichita, kansas. you can see the path carved out. pickup trucks crushed. >> the windows went out just like a big -- and i told my wife hit the floor, and she said i'm down already. >> pretty much we knee at that point it was a lost cause. >> in harrisburg, illinois, the pictures speak for themselves. >> i can't believe the measure of damage. it's like there was no structure, and took it completely out. as you can tell, it's total devastation. all the way down through this whole area, i'm just glad it happened at night, no one was ought work. >> we were able to get a loot of people out of the houses. it's unreal, like a war zone. >> reporter: fortunately staff this notice of the storm and moved patients in the hospital to safety. nurse jane harper took these pictures. >> i sure heard the explosion when the walls blew out and the windows went and the south door that's an electric door got blown in, and the ceiling tiles started to fall. the water started to surge, and the fire alarm came on. all the power went out. >> the tornado also sheared homes in indiana and missouri. branson, missouri's touchist district hit by the storm. here's coco reporter wenting owens. >> reporter: storms did rip through the entertainment district, a lot of theaters are here, a lot of plazas. >> the storm front moved on, leaving behind devastation and disbelief. >> to see how it we want through and took off a part of this town and skipped over and disappeared, it's just unbelievable. >> very tragic instead. the harrisburg police chief announced they are imposing a curfew to try to keep folks safe, remaining in effect until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. hardbreaking stories. one mu size narrowly escaped. i want to bring this report from dave davis of kotv. >> reporter: denny's job is a musical performer, but also did he know would he also become a survivor. denny and his driver were in this tour van when it -- >> i heard the rocks mainly start hitting. i heard a loud roar, and it was terrible. i felt like somebody swooped me up. i immediately fell on my back. i'm pretty sore between the shoulder blads. i cut my wrist. the counter top got me. it was just a rush. >> denny found out his tour van had been thrown across the road, with he and his driver inside. he says he was lucky to survive. that's the general feeling around town. >> just thankful you're okay. >> yeah, and i think a lot of people are. it's a mess. >> i'm on the second floor, and you could hear -- my mom refused to come 0u69 house. i'm like, mom, you need to come. let's go. >> reporter: everyone was a survivor in branson today. there were no deaths. now with tourism season around the corner, it's time to start picking up the pieces and rebuild. >> the season's going to be hurting for everybody this year, i don't even -- this is devastating for branson. >> dave davis from our affiliate kotv reporting. to find out more about how to help victims of the tornadoes, go to cnn.com/impact. there you will find details about organizations making a difference and what you can do to help those in need. cnn.com/impact. we're staying on top of the breaking news. we'll have more, including surveying the damage from the air, plus the latest on this search for survivors of these killer storms. also the super high stakes on super tuesday, why the next six days could see the fiercest fighting yet in the republican race for the white house. ask me. 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[ male announcer ] start asking real owners. ask me how to make your first move. ♪ it's the perfect time to save up to $300 on select mattress sets. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. horrible tornadoes, the story is still developing, we'll get back and show you what's going on. in the meantime, let's check in with jack cafferty. he's got "the cafferty file." gas prices rose for the 22nd day in a row. inching ever closer to a national average of $4 a gallon. aaa says the nationalwide arches stands at 3.73. gas prices up 14% so far in year, already top $4 in several states. there are reports of $5 gasoline here in the new york area, and some are suggesting before it's over, gasoline could top $6. the market reflecting fear that tensions would lead to a war with iran. signs of an improving economy, growing worldwide demand and speculators have also driven prices up. we've been here before, way back in the 1970s, the nixon and ford administration imposed price controls, reacting to rising gas prices caused when opec cut back its production. what followed was interminably long lines at the stations and an artificial shortage of fuel. almost 40 years ago people panicked. gas stations only stayed open a few hours a day, and since they couldn't raise prices, they sold up shop when they, and people bought gas on the black market at exorbitant markets. as consumers feels more intense pain at the pump, there could be pressure on the government to intervene once again. just today secretary of state hillary clinton says she's skeptical about what she calls the reasons for the increase in gas prices. she says it deserves careful attention from congress. good luck with that. anyway, here's the question -- should price controls be imposed on gasoline? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. you can post a comment on my blog or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. wolf? >> jack, thanks very much. i want to get back to the breaking news. joining us on the phone is the sheriff of saline county, keith brown, saline county is home of the devastated city of harrisburg, illinois. my heart goes out to you and all the folks devastated by these tornadoes. first of all, is it still the number six confirmed deaths in harrisburg? >> yes, sir. as of just a few minutes ago i consulted with the coroner's office, and we have six known to be dead, four female, and two males have been reported so far today. >> just on a personal note, where were you at the time of these tornadoes? were you anywhere near thinks tornadoes in harrisburg? >> my residence is approximately half a mile from the path of the tornado, and, you know, of course we had just put out a nixl alert to the community and the storm sirens had been activated just after 4:30, the national weather service identified a storm in our area and identified as a potential -- it was a -- it turned out to be a long day, and very devastating day to several families here in our community. >> i'm sure. the pictures are really awful when you say an alarm went off, a siren went off, in other words, is that audible in the middle of the night for people in deep sleep? can they hear that? >> no, it's actually the outside sirens are for of course we always advocate for folks to have noaa weather radios. that's inside the house alarm system to be notified when these things are happening. a lot of folks depends on outside warning devices or they don't have anything. in our particular county, we use an alarmt system called nixl, it's an alarm or alert system to the community. that's a telephone, e-mail, text message type of phone alarm obvious loy the tornado struck the southeastern part of town, and destroyed an apartment complex. that's where most of our fatalities were in and around that area. >> have you ever seen anything like this in your community, sheriff? >> not in this community. i was a state police officer for 26 years, so i've been sent to a number of tornadoes, a number of devastating disasters over the years, but this is the first one at home that i've had to deal with. >> what does your community need now, describe what it's going through? >> we're working through the unified command systems and working through our needs. amron has approximately 300 trucks on the way here. we have a tremendous amount. we have an outpouring from the community at lard has been very good. at this point the red cross is feeding our emergency workers and those displaced. the baptist church here in harrisburg has put up cots for those who may be displaced. we're working through it as communities do, and we have a plan in place and we're following through. >> are there still individuals that are missing now? >> the information is we have all accounted for at this time. of course when you read -- we're not found any or have a report of -- but when you have a rural community, oftentimes it's a while before you're notified of someone who lives in a remote area or lives alone or doesn't have a large -- >> how many people live there? >> we're just under 10,000 for the communities, just under 30,000 for the county. >> sheriff, good luck to everyone in saline county, especially in harrisburg. we appreciate you sharing a few moments with us. we'll check back if that's okay. >> i certainly appreciate your concern and we certainly appreciate the prayers out for those that were lost in this terrible disaster. >> thank you, sheriff. sheriff keith brown of saline county, which is the home of harrisburg, illinois in southern illinois. the tornado devastation may not be over. the storm is pushing east, and at least six states could still be hit. we're going to tell you where it's headed. stay with us for that. also to see the scope of the damage you need an eye in the sky. a police hell copper pilot show us the powerful images. 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>> i've got to press a button, which will be mea heavy lift. >> there it goes. >> for romney the real heavy limits -- but polls show the map could get messy. romney's pitch -- listen to the voters who put hem over the top. >> interestingly people who said the economy and they voted for me overwhelmingly. >> we're heading to super tuesday with wind at our back. >> reporter: rick santorum insists the wind is still at his back, claiming that he'll come out of the that contest with a tie. >> here's the important part, delegates. that's what this is all about. we actually won half the congressional districts, so we're going to walk off michigan with 15 delegates, and he's going to walk out with 15 delegates. we tie. >> reporter: but according to cnn's exit polls, the former pennsylvania senator still has challenges. as expected, romney won among suburnen and wealthy voters, but also captured the catholic vote. he also won union members, even does thats. a reminder of the controversial robo-call he rang in michigan that appealed to non-republicans to cross over and make mischief. but it's newt gingrich who may have the most on his mind. the former speaker hinted his campaign could be finished if he doesn't win his home state of georgia on super tuesday. >> that is the key building block that we have to have to move forward in the presidential campaign. so georgia really does matter, and the campaigning we'll be doing for the next few days really does matter. >> reporter: as for all of that crossover mischief in michigan, it turns out there may better more to come, wolf, there is open primaries, which is why the romney campaign staged a conference call to call on rick santorum for no more dirty tricks. on the delegate math that rick santorum was talking about, our polls unit at this point estimates a 13-13 delegate tie coming off michigan with still four delegates unallocated. so we could say it's a 15-15 tie as the senator is saying, wolf. >> not yet. we'll see what happens. jim, thanks very much. now that the campaign in michigan is over, what did we learn about the close rates in michigan last night? >> let's fool up on what jim acosta was talking about. these two men have completely different constituencies. they tend to be older, woism. they also tend tore wealthier, incomes, $100,000 above are romney republicans. when you ask them what the key called is, defeating barack obama, so romney voters care an awful lot about electability. let's look at santorum voters. they identify themselves as very conservative, the most conservative voters in republican primaries. they are blue collar. incomes there are 100,000 and below. when you ask them what is the key quality for a presidential candidate? instead of saying electability, they care much more about strong moral character. so what romney has to do is convince these conservative republicans that he's just as conservative, and santorum has to convince the romney voters that he has a fiscal policy and he is not just a cultural conservative, because they don't want that. >> if you're romney, what's the big price? >> ohio, ohio, ohio. ohio is a big state, generally regarded as the bellwether. another thing that mitt romney has to think about he needs to win in the south. he probably will win in the state of virginia. santorum is now, ron paul is on the ballot, but there are lots of republicans saying, you know what? the republicans party is strong in the south. he's got to make a play. if he can't win georgia, maybe he haught to go to tennessee, heless to prove he's a contain of some depth and breadth. >> thanks very much. we're following the breaking news this hour, the tornado outbreak that's killed at least nine people in missouri and illinois, with more deadly weather possible in the coming hours. a helicopter pilot from our affiliate wlky is observing the damage in elizabethtown, joining us on the phone right now. bill, we have powerful images from your helicopter. walk us there you what you saw. this is a trucking big, an ef-2 right now. you can see the video it is uprooted semitrailers. the tornado was probably i'm guesstimating maybe 1/16 of a mild in width. there were some homes completely leveled, one that stuck out in my mind was a cinder block home that was completely destroyed. >> do you know the numbers in terms of casualties? those injured? >> well, that's the good news, if there is any in a situation like this. the video that you've been looking at here is one area just south of elizabethtown, kentucky. we went to two other areas, hodgenville, kentucky, that think a more residential area where it was taking out home. so there were three isolated areas, luckily no confirmed injuries, but very devastating results of this tornado that cam