What's left of a home hit by a tornado in Harveyville, Kan. on February 28, 2012. Photo by Eric Ives

At least nine people are dead in Illinois and Missouri after a powerful storm system lashed the Midwest early Wednesday. There were multiple reports of tornadoes.

The storms caused a lot of damage in the country music resort
city of Branson, Mo., and laid waste to small towns in Illinois in
Kansas.

An apparent twister rolled through Branson just before 1 a.m.,
and seemed to hopscotch up the city's main roadway. It took roofs
off hotels and damaged some music theaters. More than 30 people
were reported hurt, mostly with cuts and bruises.

The owner of a Branson diner says a theater next door "kind of
exploded" and "went everywhere." He says hotels on both sides
lost their roofs. John Moore says damage must be in the millions.

At least six people were killed in the southern Illinois town of
Harrisburg after a storm leveled much of the community. Authorities
had earlier reported ten deaths in the town.

From last night into this morning, at least 16 tornado sightings
were reported from Nebraska and Kansas across southern Missouri to
Illinois and Kentucky.