Severe Weather Spawns Violent Midwest Tornadoes

Tornadoes, heavy rains and floods are hammering the heartland.

A van lies overturned at the home of Mona and Curt Hansen on the north side of Austin, Minn.,...

A van lies overturned at the home of Mona and Curt Hansen on the north side of Austin, Minn., shortly after a tornado tore through their neighborhood the evening of June 17, 2009. Nearly two dozen tornadoes ripped through the Midwest last night, flipping cars, knocking out power for thousands and injuring one person severely.

(Kevin Hanson/Post-Bulletin/AP Photo)

In Austin, Minn., on Wednesday night, flying debris injured six of the Morem family's horses and sent people running for cover.

"I realized we really were having a tornado, and I ran into the house," said Mel Morem.

Her son, Mitch Morem, was trapped under debris.

"I started pulling the hay over the top of me," he said. "I actually barricaded myself over my head and everything."

There were 23 tornadoes reported throughout the Midwest on Wednesday alone, and more than 100 have been reported in the past week. Meteorologists say this might just be the start.

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"We haven't had those real clashes of hot and cold so often this season," said Tracy Butler, a meteorologist for WLS-TV in Chicago. "We're really getting a late start for the severe weather season here in the Midwest."

Aside from the tornadoes, hail pelted parts of Colorado and North Carolina. Thunderstorms and high wind knocked out power in the South. And torrential downpours swamped the streets of Pittsburgh, turning storm drains into geysers.

Tim Sherno, from ABC News' Minneapolis affiliate KSTP, visited Austin, Minn., to survey the damage.

"We've seen a lot, and this is a good example," Sherno said as he stood in the midst of steel-strewn rubble. "This used to be a storage building. It was basically squashed by a tornado last night. We have seen pieces of metal crumpled up like paper balls, scattered across the landscape."

Nearby, Sherno said the possible tornado wrapped a piece of metal around a tree "draped like a necktie."