Dramatic CCTV footage emerged today of the moment a tornado ripped through St Louis airport on Friday, tearing off the roof and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. It was released as forecasters warned people across the south-east and Midwest to brace themselves for more violent storms to come. They predicted tornadoes, dangerous thunderstorms, flash flooding and large hail could hit a great swathe of the country stretching from the southern Plains to the Ohio Valley over the next three days
The CCTV footage, released today, shows airport workers desperately running for cover as high winds tore through Lambert-St Louis International Airport on Friday night. Chairs, tables and panels are blown through the airport like skittles as paper and other debris swirl through the air. Another camera captures the moment the power goes out in the baggage-checking area. The screen goes black then four workers are seen running for cover. Around 60 per cent of scheduled daily departures left the airport yesterday, but the damage was so severe it is not expected to be fully operational until mid-week.
Elsewhere around 750 homes in Maryland Heights and Bridgeton were destroyed or damaged as the storm left cars overturned in driveways and lawns and cut power to 50,000 people. They could face more devastation over the coming days as a band of violent thunderstorms sweeps across the south-east and Midwest.
Potential tornado-spawning storms are predicted to stretch from Oklahoma and northern Texas up to Pennsylvania tonight and tomorrow, an area which includes the cities of Dallas, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Yesterday storm-chasers captured video of towering twister clouds in the sky in Baird, Texas, as the band of storms began to build up. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for south-west Arkansas, north-west Louisiana and south-east Oklahoma today, predicting hail up to two inches in diameter, wind gusts up to 70mph and dangerous lightning.
Destroyed: Severe winds ripped the roofs off houses in Bridgeton, Missouri ion Friday. The state governor attributed the fact only three people were injured to 'divine intervention'.
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