Midwest, South face more violent weather

HARRISBURG, Ill. – Crews cleared splintered plywood and smashed appliances from small-town neighborhoods Thursday, a day after tornadoes killed 13 people in the Midwest and South. But the forecast held a menacing possibility: More twisters may be coming, and they could be even stronger.

Damaged communities tried to take advantage of the brief break in the weather, mindful of one meteorologist’s warning that by today, both regions would again be “right in the bull’s-eye.”

Skies were sunny in the southern Illinois community of Harrisburg, where Darrell Osman was back in the rubble of his dead mother’s home, trying to salvage whatever he could.

He couldn’t help but think of the pain that would be inflicted if another twister hit Harrisburg, a town of 9,000 where six people died. “On a personal level, I think I’ve been hit as hard as I can be hit, but it would be disheartening for this community,” Osman said.

Kera Wise searched the ruins of her aunt and uncle’s home after the two were hospitalized in neighboring Indiana with injuries they suffered in the storm.

Wise figured she had little time to waste in rounding up her aunt’s prized trove of Elvis memorabilia and Beanie Babies.

“You just keep thinking, ‘God, please don’t let there be another tornado.’ ”

Wednesday’s fatalities spanned four states. In addition to the Illinois deaths, one person was killed in the Missouri town of Buffalo, while two more fatalities were reported in the state’s Cassville and Puxico areas. All three died in mobile homes.

A Harveyville, Kan., man suffered fatal injuries after his home collapsed on him, and three more people were killed in eastern Tennessee.

Another twister hopscotched down the main thoroughfare of the country music mecca of Branson, Mo., damaging some of the city’s famous theaters just days before the start of the town’s crucial tourist season.

Local leaders insisted Branson was open for business, but they expected the full cleanup to take weeks.