Over the past 24 hours, more than 40 reported tornadoes have swept across eight states in the Midwest and South -- and the dangerous severe weather threat continues. The eight states with reported tornadoes in the past day are Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee.

By JEFF ROBERSON, REBECCA REYNOLDS and JULIE WALKER PIEDMONT, Mo. (AP) — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.