Violent storms have cut through a wide swath of the South and Midwest, spawning tornadoes and killing at least one person, knocking down power lines and trees and ripping roofs off homes

The National Weather Service says a "multi-day catastrophic and potentially historic" storm is expected to impact multiple states. Thousands have lost power in Missouri and other states, and a person was killed Wednesday evening in the southeast part of the state.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency, the most severe type of warning that exists, in Lake City, Arkansas.