(Ida Evans looks through the rubble for her parents' belongings which were blown across the street by a tornado in Harrisburg, Illinois March 1, 2012)
Tornadoes touched down in five states on Friday, damaging homes in Kentucky and Illinois, the National Weather Service and state emergency officials said.
There were no reports of injuries, emergency officials in Illinois and Kentucky said. Tornado touch-downs were also spotted in Missouri, Alabama and Georgia, the Weather Service's Storm Prediction Centerreported on its website.
There were more than a dozen reports of twisters touching down by the Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, as a cool front brought rain and severe weather to the nation's midsection, which had experienced record-breaking, summer-like temperatures for over a week.
A likely tornado in Fern Creek, Kentucky, damaged some homes, said emergency management spokeswoman Monica French.
A house was destroyed in Jefferson County, Illinois, near the border with Kentucky, Illinois spokeswomanPatti Thompson said.
Among the southern Illinois towns in the severe weather zone that was pelted by hail on Friday wasHarrisburg, where seven people were killed when a powerful tornado February 29 flattened part of the town.
Tornadoes have caused 55 deaths so far this year, most of them during one week when swarms of tornadoes wreaked havoc across the Midwest and the South.
SOURCE Reuters
