to tell how much damage was here in smithville, missouri.id on the ground here, this was once a home. you can see shoes, kitchen cabinets, ceiling fans. this all came from up on top of that hill. that's where the house was. completely blown off the foundation as severe winds and thunderstorms rattled smithville here. you can see all the homes down the line here have significant damage. siding blown off of homes, trees cracked and toppled over. now a tornado didn't touch down here, but 30 miles east of us in oak grove, missouri, a tornado did touch there wreaking havoc on that small community. same situation in oak grove as in smithville. debris everywhere. we know that nobody got hurt and that is the good news in all of this. so now this morning crews are coming out here trying to restore power to the community, assessing the damage, and seeing what can be done. but again stressing no injuries, and that is amazing here the morning after severe, severe weather in the midwest. for nbc news, i'm sara plank. >>> concerns arriving again after a t

smithville, one of the hardest hit, is about 20 miles north. the national weather service says at least two tornados touched down in missouri yesterday. despite the damage, there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. just to the east of smithville, hundreds of homes damaged by a suspected twister. >> reporter: as the sun rose, we were really able to tell how much damage was here in smithville, missouri. all of this debris laid on the ground here, this was once a home. you can see shoes, kitchen cabinet, ceiling fans. this all came from up on the top of that hill. that's where the house was completely blown off the foundation you can see all of these homes down the line here have significant damage. siding blown off of homes, cracked and toppled over. a tornado didn't touch down here, but we know 30 miles east of us in oak dproegrove, missou tornado did touch down there wreaking havoc on that small community. debris everywhere. luckily looking at all the significant damage, we know that nobody got hurt. crews are coming out here trying

you're looking at damage in the city of smithville, about 20 miles north of kansas city. >> today the town's fire chief said weather events like this are both traumatic and stressful for everyone involved. jay gray is live in smithville now where the massive cleanup is underway. >> reporter: we want to give you a firsthand look at some of the devastation here. as you talk about the cleanup continuing right now, after a string of past miles long of destruction across the midwest. >> power crews are already down here. >> reporter: for the second time in less than a week, the hea heartland's been hit. communities ripped apart by storms that spawned dozens of tornados across several states. oak grove, missouri saw some of the worst of it. nearly 500 homes damaged, some completely wiped away. >> we've got a track of approximately 7 miles with some intermittent touchdowns. >> reporter: the city's mayor is breathing a sigh of relief. >> thank god there were no fatalities. >> reporter: in near smithville, another 60 homes were damaged or destroyed. the storm striking under the cover of night,

approach the for two miles to the north from smithville where they made their landing and got within 600 yards of the fort. the ground between the fort for 600 yards had been cleared up for a field of fire, and what they discovered when they got there, this was a very strong fort. attacking a head-on would be almost murderous. like the attack by the 54th massachusetts on battery wagner in charleston in 1863. they debated whether or not to attack it straight on, even when the protection of the navy, an african-american showed up in their camp and said, i know a way around the pond and ft. anderson. he guided them. he guided the union forces, two brigades, around the fort from the west around the pond. to themselvesed on the north side by late on the night on february 18. the weakness of fort anderson, like the weakness of fort fisher, was that it was a two sided. if union forces beget get on the north side, they could attack it more easily. with less opposition. union soldiers who were captured and some deserters informed the general who commanded the garrison here when it happened, a

were transferred across the cape fear river, approached the fort about two miles to the north from smithville where they made the landing, and got within 600 yards of the fort. the ground between the fort and the tree line had been cleared out or a field of fire. what they discovered when they got there, this was a very strong earthen fort, attacking it head-on would be almost murderous. like the attack by the 54th massachusetts on charleston in 1863. so while they debated whether or not to attack it straight on, even with the protection of navy, an african-american showed up in their camp late on the afternoon of february 50 and said i know a way around orton pond and fort anderson. and so he got them, he guided the union forces, two brigades, around the fort to the west, around orton pond and depositions themselves on the north side. the weakness of fort anderson like the weakness of fort fisher was that it was just a two-sided work. so if union forces could get on the north side of the fort, they could attack it more easily. with less opposition. union soldiers that were captured and some

same situation in oak grove as in smithville, debris everywhere. luckily looking at all the significant damage, we know that nobody got hurt and that is the good news in all of this. so, now this morning crews are coming out here trying to restore power to the community, assessing the damage and seeing what can be done. but again, stressing no injuries and that is amazing here the morning after severe, severe weather in the mid which is. for nbc news, i'm sara plake. >> you can see the extent of the damage behind her. thank you very much. >> nothing like that here. what we're doing is bracing for some sunshine. >> yeah, we've had a series of our own storms and, of course, nothing like that, but we did have some flooding and some snow, but now we are seeing a drying trend. and then this cloud cover that you're looking at over some parts of the bay area are because of a system up the pacific north wels. look at tahoe north star. this is a live picture of the weather under ground about five minutes ago this was taken. you can see folks were out there

at least three tornadoes hopscotched through smithville, lee summit and oak grove, missouri, overnightremarkably everyone survived, but nearly 500 homes damaged. >> my ears popped. it got real still. it was like a freight train. i dove on her and my son dove on us. >> reporter: the clean up under way. back in the fire zone, the forecast favorable conditions to get the wildfires under control. kerry sanders, nbc news, san antonio, texas. >>> still ahead here tonight, it's a factor in half the fatal heart attacks and strokes. the simple advice that could save your life. >>> the two boys with the buzz cuts. how they are inspiring america with a simple and pretty powerful message. >>> we're back now with a new warning about your diet and startling news from doctors about what's associated with half of all fatal heart attacks and strokes. we all know the normal culprits that pose a danger in the american diet. doctors say there's a whole range of what you might call super foods that can help prolong your life. here's nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes,

at least three tornadoes hopscotched through smithville, lee summit and oak grove, missouri overnighteveryone survived but damaged. >> my ears popped. it got real still. it was like a freight train. i dove on her and my son dove on us. >> reporter: the clean up under way. back in the fire zone, the forecast favorable conditions to get the wildfires under control. nbc news, san antonio, texas. >>> still ahead here tonight, it's a factor in half the fatal heart attacks and strokes. the simple advice that could save your life. >>> the two boys with the buzz cuts. how they are inspiring america with a simple and pretty powerful message. ...it shouldn't be whateverfleas and ticks. home... no, no no no no... seresto® kills and repels fleas and ticks for 8 continuous months - for effective protection in an easy-to-use, non-greasy collar. 8-month seresto®. from bayer. i can't wait for her to have that college experience that i had. the classes, the friends, the independence. and since we planned for it, that student debt is the one experience, i'm gla

seeing in smithville, missouri. homes with roofs taken off of the home. fences have actually been torn out of the ground. but this is probably the worst that we have seen. a home completely leveled by the storm. and you can see in this rubble, we have the side of the wall here. over here we have broken glass, furniture. even in the middle, you can see a part of a sink that is left in the middle of this rubble. i also want to turn your attention to the tree limbs. just to show you the extent of the winds that we had here overnight. the debris still stuck in the limbs. many trees that we have seen at area homes have been damaged or completely broken off altogether. the red cross is expected to be back out here later today to help families begin to rebuild. local law enforcement have been out here overnight meeting with families returning to their home this morning as they begin the process of assessing the damage. power and light crews are also out. if you can see behind us, there have been multiple crews along the si

tornadoes in the midwest >> reporter: as the sun rose, we could tell how much damage was here in smithvillel of the debris on the ground here, this was once a home. you can see kitchen cabinets, ceiling fans. and this all came from up on the top of the hill. completely blown offer of t of foundation. it was just a straight shot, you can see all of these homes down the line here have significantly damage. siding blown off of homes, trees cracked and toppled over. a tornado didn't touchdown here, but we know 30 miles east of us in oak grove, missouri, a tornado did touchdown there weeking half week g h weeking wreaking havoc on that schmu small community. debris everywhere. luckily nobody got hurt and that is the good news. so now this morning crews are coming out here t assessing the damage and seeing what can be done. but again, stressing no injuries and that is amazing here the morning after severe, severe weather in the midwest. for nbc news, i'm sarah make oig. >>> military plane crashed in about to a neighborhood in about georgia. no one was hurt. it happened monday when the plane from

smithville road i think would be a better bet there and a live look outside near port richmond. still heavy on the northbound side. but at least we're not at over an hour travel time like we were last time around. that's because the overturned van northbound between bridge and cottman is now gone but still a slow crawl coming out of center city with speeds like 6 miles per hour. if you want to use the schuylkill instead of south gulph road, you can go either way now. that vehicle fire on south gulf has cleared out but there's still a crash in west goshen chester county along phoenixville pike. rick and monica, have a good weekend. >> you do the same. see you monday. thanks matt. >>> still to um can on "action news" friday night villanova has overcome their first hurdle towards a second ncaa championship and are looking forward to tomorrow night. ducis rodgers and jeff skversky have more on the wildcats' next opponents coming up. >> and a panda and found herself in a tricky situation. you'll hear what caught her completely off guard. hang on honey. coming up cecily is in for adam