captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. it was a worst-case scenario. tornados among the largest nature can produce anywhere, ripping across the countryside late at night. after people had gone to bed. of course, can t always hear a warning. more than that, they hit during what s supposed to be the dead of winter, in late february, when there is supposed to be snow on the ground, not funnels in the western sky. some storms were moving at 60 miles per hour. too fast to outrun and the people and places in their path were no match. the same weather system is on the move again tonight after spawning tornados sightings in nine states. confirmed winds of 170 miles per hour. one of the storms carving a 22-mile-long path through branson, missouri. the hardest hit community is harrisburg, illinois. tonight lester holt is heading up our team there. lester, good evening. reporter: brian, good evening. there were 17 sighted tornados as storms leaped across the mid
now, it began just before dawn. here s the terrifying sound that awakened one family in frankfort, kentucky. [ sirens ] frankfort was spared thankfully but so many other places were not. people lost their lives in tennessee, missouri, and harrisburg with the biggest lost. survivors describing what they saw and felt. it s very devastating, we are lucky compared to people out that way. very lucky. overwhelmed. just overwhelmed with emotions. i had no idea it was this bad. the lights went out. he came out of the bedroom and all of a sudden it was a freight train, the whole house was shaking, i said, oh, my god, it s a tornado and dalton grabbed me and pulled me in the pantry. the windows were blowing out and the pantry was the closest place with no windows. smart kid. harrisburg is under a curfew right now. the tornado that struck there measuring near the top of the scale, 170 miles an hour winds, upwards of 100 people hurt, up to 300 homes known destroyed a shopping c
frankfurt was spared thankfully but so many other places were not. at least ten people have died in this still menacing storm system. one in tennessee, three in missouri, six in harrisburg alone, survivors there and across the area describing what they saw and what they felt. it s very devastating, we are lucky compared to people out that way. very lucky. overwhelmed. just overwhelmed with emotions. i had no idea it was this bad. the lights went out. he came out of the bedroom and all of a sudden it was a freight train, the whole house was shaking, i said, oh, my god, it s a tornado and dalton grabbed me and pulled me in the pantry. the windows were blowing out and the pantry had no windows. harrisburg is under a curfew. the tornado that struck there measuring near the top of the scale, 170 miles an hour winds, upwards of 100 people hurt, up to 300 homes known destroyed right now. a shopping center, you see there, simply obliterated. the storm that did it measured t
imagine wake up to that frankfort was spared thankfully but so many other places were not. at least ten people have died in this still menacing storm system. one in tennessee, three in missouri, six in harrisburg alone, survivors there and across the area describing what they saw and what they felt. it s very devastating. we are very lucky compared to the people out that way. very lucky. overwhelmed. just overwhelmed with emotions. i had no idea it was this bad. the lights went out. he came out of the bedroom and all of a sudden it was a freight train, the whole house was shaking, i said, oh, my god, it s a tornado and dalton grabbed me and pulled me in the pantry. the windows were blowing out and the pantry had no windows. harrisburg is under a curfew. the tornado that struck there measuring near the top of the scale, 170 miles an hour winds, upwards of 100 people hurt, up to 300 homes destroyed and a shopping center simply obliterated. the storm that did it measur
field floating across the pacific heading towards the u.s. plus, actor don cheadle stops by studio 57. first, we begin with a look at today s eye-opener. your world in 90 seconds. thank you, michigan. what a win. this is a big night. thank you, guys. mitt romney regains republican momentum winning primaries in arizona and michigan. we didn t win by a lot but we won by enough and that s all that counts. the new romney winning closely in his home state, like charlie sheen barely winning a primary in a hooters. may have to use the backup plan for mormons to posthumously name him president. they know who we are now. a tornado outbreak in the plains kills at least one and levels a small kansas town. the extent of the damage and i m sure you ll be surprised also that more people weren t hurt. i was right by the shooter when he pulled the gun. okay. who was the shooter? his name is thomas lane. the accused ohio school gunman admits pulling the trigger. as