Officials have confirmed at least 12 deaths in Missouri following storms overnight, with 9 of those in Heartland counties.19 tornadoes were reported as severe storms moved through the area Friday night into Saturday morning,

At least 26 people have been killed in a monster storm sweeping across much of the U.S. People were killed in tornadoes in Missouri and in a Kansas dust storm.

Violent tornadoes and high winds have decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.

The weather cut a swathe of destruction across an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people.