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Death toll rises to 12 as Midwest storms smash Tennessee

Damage is seen early this morning in Harveyville, Kansas after an apparent tornado passed through the town Tuesday night.

Damage is seen early this morning in Harveyville, Kansas after an apparent tornado passed through the town Tuesday night. (AP)

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. — The belt of severe storms that earlier killed at least nine people in the Midwest crashed east through Tennessee Wednesday night, where officials reported that three people died and several homes were destroyed.

Severe storms hit central Tennessee, between Nashville and Knoxville, in the early evening, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported, with reports that a tornado touched down near Crossville.

Two people were killed in the Rinnie community, just north of Crossville, but the circumstances were not immediately clear.

An unknown number of others were injured after becoming trapped under several houses destroyed in the storms, officials told the Knoxville News Sentinel. Emergency officials were working to rescue those trapped and several were evacuated from the scene by a medical helicopter, the newspaper reported.

The Putnam County Emergency Management Agency said another fatality was recorded near Smithville in DeKalb County, WSMV-TV reported. No further details were available.

Much of Tennessee was under a tornado watch Wednesday, as the deadly storm system rolled east towards North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Virginia — where the NWS also issued tornado watch alerts.

Late Wednesday the NWS was reporting widespread damage to homes, barns and power lines — as well as numerous trees blocking roads — in eastern Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia.

Earlier six people were killed when a tornado reportedly touched down in Harrisburg, Ill., while three others were killed as the storms struck Missouri, authorities said.

In Harrisburg, officials have not yet confirmed figures for structural damage and injuries, though Tracy Felty, of the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, said close to 100 were wounded in the disaster that killed four women and two men.

The twister came out of a severe storm system that ripped through Kansas, Missouri and Illinois overnight and early Wednesday — before many people were awake to tune into local warnings — leaving dozens injured and possibly hundreds of businesses and homes damaged or destroyed across the region.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn traveled to Harrisburg Wednesday afternoon to survey the destruction and moved to provide state assistance to the town.

“After viewing damage from tornado, I am issuing a state disaster declaration for Harrisburg,” he said in a tweet.

In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon also declared a state of emergency after three people were killed.

Officials in Barry County said a man identified as Glenn Douglas Keeler, 70, was killed when a tornado overturned his trailer near Cassville, Mo., KOLR-TV reported.

About 100 miles (160km) northeast of there, another person died in a trailer park in the town of Buffalo, north of Springfield, while a third death was reported in Stoddard County, southeastern Missouri.