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

Communities across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana were devastated by the deadliest and longest-running tornado ever recorded a century ago. Here's what happened.

The deadliest twister in recorded U.S. history struck 100 years ago Tuesday, touching down in southeastern Missouri and tearing up everything in its 219-mile (352-kilometer) path for nearly four hours through southern Illinois and into Indiana.

Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the U.S., wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states.

A dangerous tornado outbreak which started on Friday evening continued into the first half of the weekend with nearly 2 dozen deaths across the nation's heartland and South.

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Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.

Nine of the 12 fatalities reported during last week's severe weather outbreak occurred in Wayne and Ozark counties.