Tornadoes rip through Midwest

Tornadoes and thunderstorms tore through the Midwest on Sunday, killing at least seven people in Ohio and triggering the automatic shutdown of a nuclear power plant in Michigan. n northwest Ohio, seven people were confirmed dead in mostly rural Lake Township south of Toledo. Tornadoes destroyed dozens of homes and heavily damaged the police headquarters and high school, authorities said.

An emergency command cetnter has been set up behind the police administration building. According to an eyewitness, "Windows were blown out of the buildings, buses overturned, the police department lost all of their vehicles except the ones that were occupied by officers".

In other reports, Monroe County spokesman Dan Smith said that "Severe storms caused the automatic shutdown of the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie in southeast Michigan after a key area of the plant lost its power feed".

According to Smith the plant did not suffer any critical damage. All safety systems were fine, the only damage that was done by the tornado was to the exterior wall of the power plant.

Tornadoes also touched down in several locations in central Illinois around Peoria, the National Weather Service said. Local media reported dozens of injuries and damaged buildings.