A deadly tornado outbreak ripped through Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Mississippi overnight Friday, leaving destruction, power outages and tragic loss in its wake.

"Get to the sturdiest structure you have access to and remain in place until the storms pass," the NWS told residents in Alabama on Saturday night, when multiple tornado warnings were issued. At least 250,

An "outbreak" of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is expected through Saturday night in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and other southern states.

A line of severe thunderstorms, the first extreme weather event of the year, will hit the Chicago area around midnight Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

At least 12 fatalities have been reported in Missouri, according to the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency. The deaths come as a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that damaged buildings, whipped up deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.

The threat of tornadoes in parts of the U.S. proved deadly as whipping winds moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, with at least two people killed in south-central