Residents Dig Out Of Tornado Hit Areas

The cleanup from weekend tornadoes continues in the Plains and South, where twisters claimed 22 lives in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia.

Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to survey damage in three southwest Missouri counties where a powerful tornado Saturday night killed 15 people.

Emergency officials said the tornado was approximately 300 yards wide with wind speeds up to 170 mph. They said it was on the ground for about 15 miles, tearing a 12-mile-long path eastward.

To the west, across the Oklahoma line, a tornado also smashed through the town of Picher, leaving at least six dead and about 150 injured.

Once a boom town of about 20,000, Picher's population had dwindled to about 800 after waste from lead and zinc mines turned the area into an environmental disaster and Superfund site. A joint state and federal disaster team worked to make a preliminary damage assessment Monday, but the head of the local housing authority said this could be it for the town. John Sparkman said "there's just nothing to build back to any more" and the people "probably have had enough."

The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office reported six fatalities related to a tornado in Picher. There were about 150 injuries reported in the Picher area, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Gov. Brad Henry toured Picher on Sunday and called the damages "breathtaking and profound" and vowed to do everything possible to ensure that those impacted by the tornadoes receive the assistance they need to recover.

Flooding Forces Evacuations

Heavy rains and high winds have combined to cause power outages, flooding and evacuations in the mid-Atlantic region.

Up to four inches of rain fell across the area from Sunday into Monday morning.

A sinkhole up to 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep has forced the evacuation of three homes in the Washington suburb of Camp Springs, Md.

Two people were hurt when high winds in Chesapeake Beach, Md., caused one house to collapse into another.

Maryland officials said some areas of the state have up to two feet of standing water.

In Delaware, authorities have helped evacuate coastal communities because of high tides and heavy rains that have flooded roads.

Tens of thousands are without power in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.