Brookport, Ill., got hit by a tornado, with cars and mobile homes overturned. The tornado moved to the town from Paducah, Kentucky.
Via Twitter, WPSD reported that there was “massive devastation” in Brookport, with gas leaks and downed power lines. The Weather Channel reported that at least 50 mobile homes were destroyed in Brookport.
At least three people were killed in the tornado in the town.
There were also reports of injuries, and emergency rescue crews are on the scene.
The Brookport bridge between Illinois and Kentucky has been closed to regular traffic, reported the West Kentucky Star.
“Not sure full extent of damage. 3 homes destroyed for sure beside where I was. Major gas leak. Getting large hail now,” wrote a storm chaser in Brookport.
He added: “Debris was flying around and houses was (sic) basically exploding beside me.”
The Paducah Sun reported there were fields of debris from West Paducah through southern Illinois.
Officials say they have confirmed that five people died when tornadoes hit central and southern Illinois, ABC-7 reported.
Melanie Arnold of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency a person was killed in Washington when a tornado struck that central Illinois community on Sunday. She did not have any details about the victim.
Earlier in the day, the county coroner in Washington County in southern Illinois said that an elderly man and his sister died when a tornado struck their farm house in the town of New Minden, about 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The storm that struck New Minden and Washington was part of a series of intense thunderstorms and tornadoes that swept across the Midwest on Sunday, causing extensive damage in several Illinois communities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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