Tornado outbreak: four killed in St Louis storm

At least four people died and others were hurt after severe storms including a possible tornado swept through St. Louis.

The storms Friday afternoon tore roofs off some buildings, ripped bricks off of siding and downed trees and power lines as residents were urged to take cover.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer confirmed the deaths.

At Centennial Christian Church, City of St. Louis Fire Department Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press that three people had to be rescued after part of the church crumbled. One of those people died.

National Weather Service radar indicated that a tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It received reports of damages, mostly downed trees, weather service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler said.

The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World's Fair and Olympic Games the same year, Pfahler said.

Police were urging no travel and said on social media that first responders were being called to storm damaged areas.

"If you do not have to travel, PLEASE STAY HOME," the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said in the post.

The St. Louis Zoo posted a message on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, that it would remain closed for the rest of the day because of the weather. The post included no information on damages, a zoo spokesperson didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

"We can't definitively say whether or not it was a tornado -- it likely was," Pfahler said.

Radar also confirmed a tornado above Venice, Illinois, about 2:50 p.m. CDT. It could be accompanied by golf ball-size hail, the National Weather Service in St. Louis said. Venice is northeast of St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River.

The weather service described the tornado as "extremely dangerous" and moving east at 50 mph. The tornado is part of a severe weather system that spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, downed trees, left thousands without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a punishing heat wave to Texas.