Source: Yahoo

By GILLIAN MOHNEY and ANTHONY CASTELLANO | Good Morning America – 57 minutes ago

Search and recovery operations are underway after severe storms and tornadoes wreaked havoc on the Midwest, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more after powerful winds flattened homes and decimated much of the town of Washington, Ill.

A sixth death was confirmed late Sunday night after 77 reports of tornadoes ripped through the Midwest earlier in the day. One of the tornadoes in New Minden, Ill., was estimated to be an EF 4 with winds up to 200 mph.

Jonathon Monken, the director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency said a third person was confirmed dead Sunday night in Massac County. An elderly couple was killed in Nashville, Ill., and another person was killed in Washington.

At least 37 people were injured in the storms, although officials said they expect that number to rise significantly.

The town of Washington, a rural community of 16,000, appeared to have been one of the hardest hit. Rows of homes were completely flattened, trees uprooted and cars turned upside down.

“I crawled into my kitchen and the whole roof came off. My table went sideways, my glass doors blew in, my house is devastated and [I] still can’t find my cat,” Washington resident Alicia Bachman told ABC News Radio.

In a news release, the Illinois National Guard said it had dispatched 10 firefighters and three vehicles to Washington to assist with “immediate search and recovery operations in the tornado damaged area.”

“The whole neighborhood’s gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house,” Michael Perdun told The Associated Press.

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