Storms hit three states, kill 13

Violent storms that swept through the central U.S. killed at least 13 people in three states, toppling trees, crushing cars and tearing through a rural Arkansas fire station. The high-powered storms arrived as forecast Tuesday night and early Wednesday, just days after a massive tornado tore through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin, and killed 122 people.

The overnight storms killed two people in Kansas, eight in Oklahoma, and three in Arkansas.

KHBS/KHOG-TV, citing the National Weather Service, reported that a tornado said by spotters to be up to a mile wide had destroyed the town of Denning, Arkansas, at about 12:15 a.m. (1:25 a.m. ET) Wednesday. Denning, in Franklin County, has about 100 homes.

Franklin County Sheriff Anthony Bowen, who was near the town of Edna, Arkansas, told NBC News that trees and power lines were down everywhere and gas lines were also reported ruptured. He said at least four homes had been completely destroyed in the Edna area. source – MNSBC