Storm kills at least 4 in St. Louis as millions remain under the threat of strong tornadoes and violent winds

By Mary Gilbert, Emma Tucker, Taylor Ward, Zoe Sottile, CNN

A storm that produced a devastating tornado in the St. Louis, Missouri, area Friday afternoon has left at least four people dead and at least 10 injured, according to local authorities.

The deaths are the first confirmed fatalities after a string of tornadoes and severe storms hit the Midwest and Great Lakes Friday, brought by the same system that produced destructive storms and tornadoes Thursday. Friday’s storms left homes damaged and power lines down across the Midwest.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer confirmed the four deaths at a Friday news conference. Ten patients are being treated at St. Louis’ Children’s Hospital, with one in “critical condition,” hospital spokesperson Laura High told CNN.

“This is truly a lot of damage,” Spencer said. Several buildings have collapsed and “a lot of roofs are missing,” as a result of the storm.

“Basically every window” in the city’s firehouse was “blown out” by the storm, said St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, which damaged around 20 square blocks of the city.

First responders are working to conduct a “very extensive search of all these buildings” overnight, Jenkerson said. “This is going to be a very exhausting and extensive search pattern right now.”

“Our priority is life and saving lives and keeping people safe tonight,” Spencer added. She urged St. Louis residents to stay off the roads Friday night and stay off their phones if they can, due to “limited cell phone access.”

Authorities are working to declare a state of emergency in the city, she added. The damage will “require a massive cleanup effort.”

The National Weather Service had warned of an “extremely dangerous tornado” tracking through part of St. Louis.

The deaths follow an incredibly dangerous day of severe thunderstorms, including the potential for long-lasting, powerful tornadoes and hurricane-strength wind gusts in the eastern half of the United States. The storms have left hundreds of thousands of customers without power, particularly in Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana.

It’s all part of a multi-day threat of widespread severe weather that will stretch into early next week.

Here’s the latest:

• Severe weather outbreak expected: Nearly 9 million people from Missouri to Kentucky are under a level 4-of-5 risk of severe thunderstorms Friday with extensive wind damage, large hail and tornadoes possible. “Several strong tornadoes are expected and a long-track, high-end tornado will be possible,” the Storm Prediction Center warned.
• Extensive wind damage possible: Friday’s storms will form in an “exceptionally volatile environment,” the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, warned. These storms will have a high threshold for damage and could produce widespread damaging wind gusts stronger than 75 mph starting in the early evening.
• Tornadoes and wind cause widespread damage: Thursday’s powerful storms left nearly 400,000 homes and businesses in the dark across multiple Midwest states Friday evening as communities deal with the aftermath. Wisconsin’s Dodge County was hit particularly hard. Significant damage was reported in the county and at least one person was taken to the hospital with injuries.

Powerful storms are roaring to life

The atmosphere is supercharging a new round of severe thunderstorms after stormy weather that stretched from Arkansas to Kentucky Friday morning cleared out of the area.

Those morning storms shifted east into parts of the Appalachians in the early afternoon, leaving the door open for explosive thunderstorm development across the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.

“A regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely this afternoon into tonight,” the SPC warned Friday, adding some people in the path of storms will see “intense supercells.”

More than 70 million people in the eastern half of the US are under at least a level 2-of-5 threat of severe thunderstorms on Friday, but the greatest risk of long-lasting, EF3-plus tornadoes and widespread damaging winds is centered on parts of the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.

“All severe weather hazards are on the table, including damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes, and torrential rainfall,” the National Weather Service in Louisville, Kentucky, warned. “A few strong tornadoes and instances of very large hail are possible.”

Severe thunderstorms in Missouri and Arkansas in the afternoon were already posing a tornado and hail risk, with additional storms expected to develop from Texas to Illinois. Storms will expand rapidly in scope as they push east. Initial storms are those most likely to become supercells capable of producing tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail.

That threat will continue into the evening before some storms start to form unbroken lines. The wind threat will increase once storms form lines, with gusts stronger than 75 mph and damage possible over hundreds of miles.

Dangerous storms could continue after dark, particularly in parts of Kentucky and areas east. It’s a threat to be especially mindful of as nighttime tornadoes are nearly twice as likely to be deadly as those occurring during the day, a 2022 study found.

Severe weather leaves damage across Midwest

At least 11 tornadoes were reported in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan as thunderstorms roared through the Midwest Thursday.

Significant damage was reported in Dodge County, Wisconsin, as a cluster of storms around the county prompted shelter-in-place alerts and displaced residents, according to Sheriff Dale Schmidt.

One person was taken to the hospital with injuries in Juneau, the sheriff said Thursday, adding there “may have been another minor injury or two that occurred.”

Many streets and highways in the county are closed due to downed power lines and trees, Schmidt said. Multiple homes in Juneau were damaged and at least one house suffered a roof collapse. Everyone inside was able to get out safely, he added.

Powerful winds also roared through multiple states. A weather reporting station on Lake Michigan near Chicago’s Navy Pier recorded a hurricane-strength wind gust of 79 mph in the evening.

Storms also slammed into Michigan, taking down trees and power lines while damaging homes and businesses.

Multiple areas suffered “structural damage” in western Michigan’s Allegan County, according to the sheriff’s office. Martin Township was among the places impacted: Storms caused “vast amount of damage,” with many downed trees and power lines, though no injuries had been reported as of Friday, according to Martin Township Fire and Rescue. Firefighters responded to 34 calls overnight, the agency said.

More than 300,000 homes and businesses across four Midwest states were still without power Friday afternoon, including more than 200,000 in Michigan, according to PowerOutage.us. Michigan utility company Consumers Energy said assessments on power restoration are still waiting to be made, according to CNN affiliate WNEM.

Damaging storm risks persist for days

Severe thunderstorms are possible in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday as the same storm driving Thursday and Friday’s threats pushes east. Damaging wind gusts and hail are the greatest threats for now, but a tornado can’t be ruled out.

New storms could bring damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes to parts of the southern Plains starting Saturday afternoon.

The Plains will remain the main focus of severe weather on Sunday and Monday as well, with damaging storms possible in much of Oklahoma and Kansas. The severe thunderstorm threat will then shift back into parts of the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday.

More details about the exact risks these storms will pose and the populations under threat next week will become clear in the coming days.

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CNN’s Andy Rose, Karina Tsui, Julianna Bragg and Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.