KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thunderstorms and tornadoes tore across the nation’s heartland Saturday evening, killing at least 16 people, mangling buildings and trapping people in rubble in areas still reeling from other bouts with severe weather.
A twister killed at least six people in the northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher, then skipped over the Missouri state line to wreak further death and destruction, authorities said.
The death toll in Oklahoma could climb, said state Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten. The Picher tornado caused major damage in a 20-block area, she said.
“I know they are going through the rubble, trying to find people missing,” she said. “There are numerous injuries.”
At least 10 people died in southwestern Missouri as the storms plowed through, officials said. Three people were killed when a tornado hit near Seneca in Newton County, said meteorologist Bill Davis.
Other tornadoes were reported near McAlester and Haywood in Pittsburg County and in rural Pushmataha County, in southeastern Oklahoma.
Television footage showed some destroyed outbuildings and damaged homes west of McAlester and near Haywood. At a glass plant southwest of McAlester, the storm apparently picked up a trailer and slammed it onto garbage bins.
In Arkansas, a tornado damaged buildings and pulled down trees in Stuttgart. The Weather Service said that trees were down across a wide area of the city.
Tornadoes killed 13 people on Feb. 5, and another seven were killed in an outbreak May 2.
