injuring five. i ve been doing this for 34 years. i never saw that kind of devastation. reporter: elsewhere, trees uprooted, power lines down as heavy rain pounded the area. and in new jersey, at least three tornadoes barreled across the state. we lost power, and then we were hear pop, pop, pop, pop. all our back windows were blowing out. it went on for three, four minutes. and then this is what we were left with. reporter: this waterspout formed in nearby bethany beach, delaware. two other tornadoes striking ohio. in virginia, damaging wind and hail. earlier, a tornado from the same system hit wisconsin, leaving one man dead. experts say despite this summer s severe weather, it might not be related to climate change as tornadoes typically strike as far north as canada. tonight a perfect storm of violent weather. rehema ellis, nbc news. new insight tonight how former
and ice in the north at least 14 people have died in all this. morgan chesky begins our coverage in alexandria, louisiana. morgan, how extensive is the damage? reporter: good evening. as you can see behind me, in some areas it is pure devastation, all of this caused by just one of the more than two dozen tornadoes happening in the last 24 hours. those storms spanning several states and tonight that threat isn t over yet. tonight a tornado outbreak wreaking havoc in the south the deadly storms tearing through several states homes leveled, trees uprooted, and parts of louisiana in ruin. wow a file cabinet from the school, desks from the school. reporter: pastor rusty thrift looking at this school flattened by a massive twister. more than 20 students and staff evacuated just in time taking cover in his church, just yards away it s heartbreaking because all of this is home for us. reporter: one teenager diving under a church pew with his friend. the last thing i
a search. this is what the building looked like before the damage. you can see the two-11:building. this is what it looks like after the damage, completely flattened and for anyone inside, you can just imagine the terror they went through overnight as this is tornado struck the region and than particular town. all the social media explanations of the damage on the ground from people on the scene, they talk about vehicles being flipped, roofs being blown off of houses. you saw the leveling of a two-story hotel. well, this is ves consistent to an ef-3 tornado and that is consistent of winds of 136 miles per hour to upwards of 1865 miles per hour. so roofs of some walls torn off well instructed homes completely flattened, trees uprooted. i saw images, we don t have these just yet, but complete 2x4s sent directly through a concrete building still sticking
then we went back to google earth to show you what it looked like before the apparent tornado struck and you can see the second story becoming that is now reduced to rubble all the way down to its base. so this is consistent with what is called an ef-3 tornado, enhanced fujita scale with winds anywhere between 136 to 165 miles an hour. we typically see roofs and walls torn off of well constructed buildings, trees uprooted, complete heavy vehicles overturned. that is consistent with the damage that we saw. so go back in time, this is not current, this is late last night as the bow echo started to move through the greater oklahoma city metro region, i want you to see the bowing echo to this because that is very, very important for meteorologists. we look for that feature to show strong winds advancing in front of a line of thunderstorms like this. and oftentimes at that apex
[laughter] anyway, move on. harris: fox news alert, devastating weather leaving at least three people dead in missouri. the state capital, jefferson city, took a direct hit from a massive twister. the city is now in disaster mode. the governor has really been focused. people trapped in their homes. house to house searches underway. officials calling the damage catastrophic. matt has more from jefferson city. between the twitter account and what the governor had to say, monoy mono, it is tough. yeah, the governor is saying it is a terrible loss, harris. three people are dead in golden city, missouri. he s thankful no one perished here in jefferson city, but acknowledges people are without homes. this is residential area where people lost their houses. apartment units are crushed. cars are mangled, trees uprooted and launched and power lines are down.