David Carson / Post-Dispatch via AP
A tree fell on this home in Hazelwood, Mo., during heavy storms Wednesday. There were two reports of tornadoes in the town, according to Weather.com, and the governor declared a state of emergency.
By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News
A state of emergency was declared in Missouri on Wednesday night after tornadoes and strong thunderstorms destroyed homes and businesses and downed power lines. The same storm system also leveled homes and caused injuries in Arkansas.
The storms that struck suburbs west and southwest of St. Louis included tornadoes, according to Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.
"This was a strong system of storms that caused damage to communities in several areas of our state," Nixon said in a statement. "We will continue to work closely with local officials to assess damages and provide any needed assistance."
David Carson / Post-Dispatch via AP
Kristin Little, manager of the Ferguson Optical shop in Hazelwood, Mo., talks with a friend on the phone as she describes the damage caused by a storm, possibly a tornado, on Wednesday.
Tommy Jackson, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, gave an early tally that included at least three injuries and three homes destroyed, with at least 51 homes damaged. Firefighters in Lincoln County were working to free people trapped in a home after a tree fell on it, he said.
The National Weather Service said it would send teams to an area near Clinton, Ark., to determine whether one or more tornadoes touched down.
Roger Hooper, a judge in Van Buren County, Ark., where Clinton is the county seat, said the storms there wreaked havoc, damaging more than 30 homes and a fire department building. At least six houses and a church were destroyed.
Hooper said there were at least four injuries.
Electricity was knocked out to thousands of homes in the area, according to utility supplier Entergy.
"Warm, humid air gave way to much cooler air behind a cold front, and along the boundary a number of storms popped up," according to weather.com. "At one point, there was a 40-degree temperature difference between Pine Bluff in southeastern Arkansas, at 80 degrees, and Fayetteville in the northwestern corner, at 40 degrees."
At 4:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, weather.com warned that "the threat of severe storms will shift east and target locations from the upper Ohio Valley into the Southeast."
Weather.com added that "damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes are possible."
Other parts of the country, especially from South Dakota to Minnesota, were hit by heavy snow.
In Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton signed an emergency executive order in response to winter storms in the southern part of the state. It allows the National Guard to be called up to provide relief and assistance.
NBC News' Christopher Nelson contributed to this report.
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