The owner of a decades-old gas station in Moundville, Missouri, saw an outpouring of help after his business was flattened by a tornado.

The National Weather Service said the tornado - which cut a path through Nevada, Missouri - extended nearly 17 miles and had a width of 600 yards. Maximum wind speeds reached nearly 100 mph.

A relentless barrage of tornadoes and historic flash flooding across several states has now claimed at least eight lives as of Friday, according to state and local officials.

Residents in a small Missouri town are dealing with heartbreak on multiple levels after a tornado struck their town Wednesday and their beloved fire chief passed away.

Parts of the Midwest and South faced the possibility of torrential rains and life-threatening flash floods even as many communities were still reeling from tornadoes that killed several people.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - The Storm Prediction Center issued a Tornado Watch for several northern Arkansas counties. The watch lasts until 9 p.m. It includes these counties: The KY3 First Alert Weather team is tracking the potential for dangerous tornadoes across northern Arkansas.

In Cape Girardeau County, Garry Moore, 68, chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District, was killed in the small town of Delta Wednesday.

Several residents reported seeing a tornado in Potosi, Mo., part of a region in the Central United States that the National Weather Service warned could be deluged with tornadoes and floods in the coming days.