More than two dozen people were killed and dozens more injured as powerful tornadoes and severe storms ripped across Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and even parts of the Washington, D.

Nine tornadoes struck Missouri and Kentucky on May 16, including a deadly EF3 in Scott County that killed two people and destroyed homes. The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes up to EF4 strength.

At least 27 people have died in Kentucky and seven more were killed in Missouri -- five of them in the St. Louis area.

Authorities in Kentucky expect the death toll of 14 to increase as they continue to search the ravaged areas. Nine of the dead were in Laurel County, where a tornado hit just before midnight on May 16, the sheriff's office said. Many more were injured there.

Portsmouth-based Mercy Chefs, a disaster relief organization, is providing aid in Kentucky and Missouri following a deadly tornado outbreak in the region.

The tornado, which ripped across the largely rural area and extended to the London Corbin Airport, hit shortly before midnight.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Storm systems sweeping across parts of the Midwest and South have left at least 21 dead, many of them in Kentucky, where what appeared to be a devastating tornado crumbled buildings and flipped a car over on an interstate.

Dozens of people lost their lives after tornadoes swept through Kentucky and Missouri over the weekend as the communities impacted were forced to grapple