I have always been in awe of Mother Nature's ability to produce some incredibly powerful storms. As incredible as the storms are, the path they leave behind them is even more shocking. This morning, residents in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and several other states in the Deep South and Midwest are waking up to the heart-wrenching site of death and destruction.

My wife and I were watching live coverage of the tornado outbreak last night and were in disbelief of the sheer size of the storm. One tornado was between a half-mile to a mile wide, and was on the ground for over an hour-an-a-half. Mayflower, Arkansas; Baxter Springs, Kansas; and Quapaw, Oklahoma were among the hardest hit areas. Some experts initially classified the tornado as an EF-3, but others scientists and meteorologists say this could have easily been an EF-5 tornado.

Around 5:30pm local time the storm developed in Quapaw, just 20 miles south of Joplin, where the worst tornado on record annihilated the Missouri town three years ago.  See the damage from Joplin by clicking here.  Just a few weeks ago, we had some severe weather come through Mid-Michigan.  While there has been no official confirmation of a tornado, many local residents are convinced otherwise.  See the damage from that storm by clicking here.

As destructive the storm system has been since last night, experts say that the threat is not over.  Today and tonight, much of the Midwest is in the danger zone, including residents of Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Southern Michigan.

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