Rare January Twisters strike MidwestMARSHFIELD, Mo. — A rare January outbreak of tornadoes raked the Midwest on Monday, flattening houses in several states and killing at least two people in Missouri.
An elderly woman was killed near Strafford in Greene County, officials said, and a 53-year-old woman's body was found by rescuers in a wooded area north of Marshfield near her trailer, which was destroyed.
At least six people were taken to hospitals by ambulance, said Michael Taylor, fire chief in Marshfield in the southwestern part of the state.
Two other people were in critical condition, said Ed Gray, a spokesman for Missouri's emergency management agency.
Storms continued to pummel the nation's midsection as darkness fell on a day when record temperatures were reported across much of the country. Tornadoes were also reported or suspected in Arkansas and Oklahoma and along the Illinois-Wisconsin line.
In Illinois, about 500 people fled their homes after a suspected tornado knocked over rail cars carrying hazardous materials.
About six homes were destroyed in the small town of Poplar Grove, Ill., where authorities rescued motorists trapped by downed, live electrical lines and crews searched damaged structures to make sure no one was trapped. Three people suffered minor injuries, Boone County Sheriff's Lt. Perry Gay said.
About 15 miles away in Harvard, Ill., a suspected tornado derailed one locomotive and 12 freight cars. A tank car containing shock fluid leaked for hours before it was contained, and another derailed car contained ethylene oxide, a flammable material widely used to sterilize medical supplies, but was not leaking, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said.
Authorities ordered about 500 residents to evacuate the nearby unincorporated town of Lawrence, said Capt. David Shepherd with the McHenry County Sheriff's Office. No injuries were reported, he said.
To the northeast, a tornado ripped through Wisconsin's Kenosha County. Eleven houses in Wheatland were destroyed, five others had heavy damage and four had moderate damage, said Matthew Gronke, fire chief for the town of Randall. About 13 people were injured, none seriously, authorities said.
Deputies responding to a rollover accident saw a house collapse as the storm blew through, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said.
"It got flattened as they were there," he said, and windblown debris ripped the emergency light bar off their squad car.
The deputies completed their rescue of the motorist pinned in the car and then ran to the house.
"They pulled the wreckage from the basement door and got some people out," he said.
The tornado warning disrupted legal proceedings in Walworth County, as at least 300 people were moved to a courthouse basement as a precaution.
Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce E. Schroeder, who was presiding over opening testimony in a high-profile murder trial that was moved in Walworth County, said he couldn't believe it when the deputy said the courtroom had to be evacuated because of a tornado warning.
"It's a first," he said while waiting in the basement. "I've actually had ... warnings occur during jury trials before and frankly I just ignored them. But not in January."
Three juries were kept away from the rest of the courthouse employees, deputies, reporters and others in the basement during the hour-long evacuation.
Meteorologists said the unusual weather was the result of warm, moist air moving from the South that had temperatures hovering near 70 degrees on Sunday and Monday.
"It's very unseasonable for this time of year," said meteorologist Benjamin Sipprell of the National Weather Service's St. Louis office. "The atmosphere is just right."
The high in Buffalo, N.Y., of 59 beat the old record for the date by 5 degrees. The high was 66 in Toledo, Ohio, a record that led some University of Toledo students to stroll to class in T-shirts, flip-flops and shorts. In New Jersey, the Atlantic City International Airport recorded a high of 68 degrees, breaking a 10-year-old record by 10 degrees.
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