Searchers comb through rubble after deadly storm system clobbers Midwest Rescuers fanned out across at least a half-dozen states Monday morning in a search for victims, a day after a series of deadly tornadoes and powerful storms tore through the nation's heartland on Sunday, destroying homes and flipping over cars. At least six were dead, thousands homeless and hundreds of thousands without power Monday as the region began the daunting task of recovering from powerful storm system that spawned several tornadoes. Illinois was hardest hit, with at least six people killed and seven counties declared disaster areas by Gov. Pat Quinn. The storms were felt in at least 12 states, though Illinois, Indiana and Ohio were hardest hit. One tornado that blew through Illinois' Washington County, east of St. Louis, left a path of destruction more than three miles long, according to a preliminary survey by the National Weather Service. The whole neighborhood's gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house," said Michael Perdun, speaking by cellphone from the hard-hit central Illinois town of Washington, where he said his neighborhood was wiped out in a matter of seconds. I stepped outside and I heard it coming. My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone. "Literally, neighborhoods are completely wiped out," Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., who said he was in Washington, told Fox News. I'm looking at subdivisions of twenty to thirty homes and there's not a home there. "The entire town of Washington is devastated," he added. Schock said the town has put out a call for physicians and nurses from surrounding areas after a tornado swept through the town midday. "Many of these people thankfully took shelter in their basements but some of them didn't and so there are some folks needing medical assistance and they have been finding them through the rubbish," he told Fox News. Most of the devastating storm system had moved east and out over the Atlantic Ocean by Monday, although residual winds of up to 50 mph were seen over the Great Lakes and in the Northeast. In Kentucky, a possible tornado touched down at a uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, though no deaths or injuries were reported, and plant officials said no hazardous materials were released from the plant. Several blocks of houses had been erased from the landscape in the rural community of 16,000. As law enforcement officers continued to search for victims and sized up the cleanup and rebuilding job ahead, they kept everyone but residents and emergency workers out. With power off and lines down in many areas, natural gas lines leaking and trees and other debris blocking many streets, an overnight curfew kept all but emergency vehicles off pitch-black roads. The only lights visible across most of Washington on Sunday night were red and blue flashes from police and fire truck lights. "I went over there immediately after the tornado, walking through the neighborhoods, and I couldn't even tell what street I was on," Washington Alderman Tyler Gee told WLS-TV. By nightfall, Trooper Pierce said there were reports of looting in Washington. Earlier in the day, the county coroner in Washington County in southern Illinois said that an elderly man and his sister died when a tornado struck their farm house in the town of New Minden, about 50 miles southeast of St. Louis. Candi Cross, the mayor of New Minden, told Fox News that residents in the town are volunteering to take in others whose homes have been damaged. "Everybody has a place to go to tonight," she said. A third person died in Washington, while three others perished in Massac County in the far southern part of the state, according to Patti Thompson of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. She did not provide details. At OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, spokeswoman Amy Paul said 37 patients had been treated, eight with injuries ranging from broken bones to head injuries that were serious enough to be admitted. Another hospital, Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, treated more than a dozen, but officials there said none of them were seriously injured. With communications difficult and many roads impassable, it remained unclear how many people might be hurt or whether the death toll would continue to climb. The wave of thunderstorms that brought the damaging wind and tornadoes affected 12 states in all: Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and western New York. Just how many tornadoes hit was unclear Sunday afternoon. According to the National Weather Services' website, a total of 65 tornadoes had struck, the bulk of them in Illinois. But meteorologist Matt Friedlein said the total might fall because emergency workers, tornado spotters and others often report the same tornado. Fox News meterologist Janice Dean said the stormfront could spur one of the top five outbreaks of tornadoes in November on record. The highest outbreak of tornadoes was in 1992, with 105 being reported between Nov. 21-23. Officials said the last such severe weather warning issued so late in the season in November came in 2005, and the result was an outbreak of 49 tornadoes. In Chicago, storms raced through the downtown area so powerfully that the rain was not falling as much as it was slamming into the sides of buildings. There were no confirmed reports of injuries. Heavy rain, high winds, and lightning delayed the NFL game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens for around two hours while fans evacuated the stands. Within an hour, the weather service said that tornadoes had touched down in Washington, Metamora, Morton and other central communities, though officials could not say whether it was one tornado touching down or several. "People can fall into complacency because they don't see severe weather and tornadoes, but we do stress that they should keep a vigilant eye on the weather and have a means to hear a tornado warning because things can change very quickly," said Matt Friedlein, a weather service meteorologist. The White House said President Obama has been briefed about the severe weather. "The White House will continue to stay in touch with our federal partners, including FEMA, as well as the state and local partners in the impacted states," it also said in a statement. In McHenry County, northwest of Chicago, funnel clouds were spotted late Sunday morning, dropping out of the clouds and then retreating again, said Bob Ellsworth, the assistant director of the county's emergency management agency.