text: Story highlights 3 drown in Missouri, governor says 
   
   Illinois mayor says school's gym, dozens of homes damaged 
   
   Weather service survey team finds evidence of EF3 tornado 
   
   A mother and child are among 9 killed in the Oklahoma City metro area, officials say 
   
   David Stottlemyre was inside an oil field repair shop in El Reno, Oklahoma, when he saw a tornado "looking at us dead in the eye." 
   
   The lifelong Oklahoman said he and two co-workers stayed inside as the building took a direct hit; the roof collapsed and the structure blew apart. Though the three survived unscathed, "We're all pretty shook up," the oil field mechanic told CNN. "Surreal, really no other way to explain it." 
   
   Friday evening's twisters killed at least nine people, two of them children, and injured scores more in Oklahoma, the office of the city's medical examiner said. Five victims had not been identified. 
   
   Canadian County Undersheriff Chris West said the seven fatalities in his county were inside vehicles. 
   
   Oklahoma City-area hospitals treated 104 people for injuries related to the storm, the state health department said. Eleven were still being treated as of 5:15 p.m. (6:15 p.m. ET), hospital officials said. 
   
   It measured peak rainfall of 7.9 inches 45 miles east of Oklahoma City, outside Meeker. 
   
   Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Crews haul away a mangled truck on Sunday, June 2, that storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras and Carl Young were using to track the tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma. The three men, who had devoted their lives to hunting powerful storms died in the middle of the chase. Seventeen tornadoes were reported in the Oklahoma City and St. Louis areas on Friday, May 31. Hide Caption 1 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Dustin Horn, second from left, helps his parents, JoAnn and Fred Horn, salvage items from their home on June 2, two days after a tornado ripped through El Reno, Oklahoma. Hide Caption 2 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Mark Reynolds sifts through debris to salvage personal items in El Reno on Saturday, June 1. Hide Caption 3 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Downed trees sit in the parking lot of the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 4 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – An overturned airplane sits amid rubble at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 5 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Bill Thesing, who was injured in his home when a tornado hit, returns from the hospital to to salvage items from his home with the help of his friend Tammy Hicks on Saturday, June 1, in El Reno, Oklahoma. Hide Caption 6 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Yvonne Merritt stands among the things she was able to save from her home in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 7 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Mikie Hooper collects her belongings from her RV, which was destroyed by a tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma, on June 1. Hide Caption 8 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – High winds left sheet metal wrapped around the branches of this tree along Route 66 in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 9 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Two pickup trucks are pictured stuck in high water along North West 23rd Street in El Reno on June 1. Heavy rain has caused flooding in the area. Hide Caption 10 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – The tornado severed the pole supporting these power lines, leaving the remnants dangling near El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 11 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Two men walk by a damaged OKC-West Livestock Market building near El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 12 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – An American flag flies above the destroyed remains of a mobile home in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 13 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – The tail section of a plane juts out of a crumbling building at a technology school in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 14 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Kim Vanaken, left, consoles her sister Angela Coble, center, along with Amber Kelley while looking at what is left of Coble's house in El Reno on Saturday, June 1. Hide Caption 15 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – A man searches through the rubble of a home in El Reno on June 1. A large part of Moore, Oklahoma, was without power, as were parts of El Reno and Union City. Hide Caption 16 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Destroyed trees and cars stand along a road at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno on June 1. Hide Caption 17 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – A tornado forms from a severe thunderstorm near Meridian outside of Oklahoma City on Friday, May 31. Hide Caption 18 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Shredded trees and debris are scattered along Interstate 40 near El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31. Hide Caption 19 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – A semi tractor-trailer damaged by a tornado lies along I-40 just east of El Reno on May 31. Hide Caption 20 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers inspect an overturned vehicle sitting alongside I-40 near El Reno on May 31. Hide Caption 21 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Storm clouds that produced a tornado roll through near El Reno on May 31. Hide Caption 22 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm strikes in Cushing, Oklahoma, on May 31. Hide Caption 23 of 24 Photos: Severe weather hits Midwest again Severe weather hits Midwest again – Tornado debris hangs from a billboard sign, which was destroyed along Interstate-40 near El Reno on May 31. Hide Caption 24 of 24 
   
   The storms came less than two weeks after a monstrous EF5 tornado turned parts of Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, into rubble. 
   
   "There's just no rest," city spokeswoman Kristy Yager said. 
   
   In all, 17 tornadoes were reported in the Midwest. The number was expected to change when officials conduct storm surveys, said Kurt Van Speybroeck, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. 
   
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   At one point, some 200,000 customers were without power in the Midwest, most of them in Missouri and Oklahoma, though that number fell significantly as Saturday wore on. Three Oklahoma City-area medical facilities were running on generators Saturday, the health department said. 
   
   Tornado damage 'sobering' 
   
   While twisters damaged houses in Missouri and Illinois, Oklahoma City and its surrounding areas, including El Reno and Union City, were hit hardest. 
   
   The storm system swatted down power lines and uprooted trees, flicked big rigs on their sides and yanked off part of the terminal roof at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport, where some 1,500 area residents had taken shelter in a tunnel. 
   
   "We're just grateful we were able to get everybody down there," airport spokeswoman Karen Carney told CNN. 
   
   A power outage and debris on the runway -- caused by 80 mph winds, not a tornado -- at one point forced the airport to cancel all flights. 
   
   Service resumed Saturday, when the lights flickered back on to reveal water damage to the walls, counters and floors, Carney said. 
   
   One twister tore open Kris Meritt's parents' brick house like a carton, sucking out its contents and tossing most of them onto the lawn. 
   
   It spared the walls and part of the roof, then moved on to raze the house next door. 
   
   The parents returned to survey the damage, but rushed off when another tornado was headed their way. 
   
   "It's a sobering thing to think about life, and to see all your memories just tossed about," Merritt said. "Everything from your childhood on up." 
   
   Though Friday's tornadoes were not as strong as the EF5 twister that killed 24 people on May 20, fear drove some people into their cars to flee, ignoring warnings not to drive. 
   
   Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as "a parking lot." 
   
   "People were actually driving southbound in the northbound lanes to try and get out of the way," said storm chaser Dave Holder. 
   
   J. Marshall Shepherd, president of the American Meteorological Society and director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia, said Saturday that should not have occurred. 
   
   "We knew well in advance these storms were going to be quite dangerous," he told CNN. "The weather service was crystal clear, to stay off the roads after 4 p.m. yesterday." 
   
   In Moore, the storms affected residents still picking up the pieces from the previous disaster. 
   
   "There's damage everywhere," Mayor Glenn Lewis told CNN's Anderson Cooper. 
   
   'Overwhelmed' by rains, flooding 
   
   Most of Lewis' already devastated town blacked out Friday night, with flooded streets adding to the headaches. 
   
   "I can't even get home to see if my house is OK," the Moore mayor said Friday night. 
   
   Eight to 11 inches of rain hosed Oklahoma City, drenching the area, Yager said. 
   
   An inch of water pooled on the first floor of City Hall, and apartments in low-lying areas of town were hit harder. 
   
   "We've seen widespread flooding throughout the entire 621 square miles," she said. 
   
   Flooding stranded some motorists. 
   
   "We saw flooding in areas that we don't see flooding," said police Lt. Jay Barnett. "We were overwhelmed." 
   
   3 die by drowning in Missouri 
   
   The impact of the severe weather spread beyond Oklahoma. 
   
   A powerful storm caused major damage to a gymnasium of Gillespie High School in southwestern Illinois, with bricks piled up from what had been the gym's front now piled up on the school's lawn, Gillespie Mayor John Hicks said. Seven to 10 homes were destroyed, and more than 30 others suffered damage, in the storm. 
   
   Thankfully, though, no one died or was significantly injured in the town of about 3,400 people. Gillespie's mayor said things might have been much different had the storm struck next week, when hundreds were set to gather not far from the high school for a celebration called Black Diamond Days. 
   
   In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency, as the storm front moved into his state stripping sidings and roofs off homes and causing deadly flooding. 
   
   A tornado in St. Charles and St. Louis counties left a path "over 10 miles of significant damage ... that caused dozens and dozens of houses to be literally blown up," the governor told CNN affiliate KSDK on Saturday. 
   
   Aerial video from CNN affiliate KMOV showed the second floors of several homes ripped apart, with houses to the front and behind still standing. In one home, a man walked across the exposed second floor, walls and roof gone, at one point picking up what appeared to be a picture as he negotiated debris on all sides. Nearby, shirts still hung on one side of what used to be a closet. 
   
   Also damaged was the 10,000-seat Family Arena in St. Charles, county spokesman Colene McEntee told CNN. The damage led three high schools in the Francis Howell school district to cancel graduation ceremonies that had been scheduled for Saturday, KSDK reported. 
   
   No one was killed in that tornado, but three people drowned in the state, according to Nixon. Problems with high waters aren't necessarily going away, especially in the southern part of the state. 
   
   "Waters are rising, floods are still occurring, and we're asking people to be very safe," the governor said Saturday afternoon. 
   
   Moore re-traumatized 
   
   In Moore, the howls of civil defense sirens sent storm-weary residents scrambling again. 
   
   Candace Looper retreated to her windowless laundry room with her cat and stacked couch pillows on top of her. 
   
   "I've been praying, and I've been singing 'The Lord's Prayer' and singing 'Amazing Grace,' so I'm OK," she told CNN. 
   
   LaDonna Cobb and her husband, Steve, were with their children at their school on May 20 when a tornado demolished the building. 
   
   A photograph of Steve Cobb carrying one of their daughters with his wife looking to him with blood on her face emerged as a symbol of Moore's suffering and resilience. 
   
   Friday's tornadoes drove them into a shelter and put fear into their hearts again. 
   
   "We're terrified," Cobb told CNN's Piers Morgan. 
   
   The second tornado was particular unsettling for their children. 
   
   "They were not handling it very well. They were pretty upset," Cobb said. 
   
   Once it passed, Lewis, the city mayor, rode around town in his pickup. 
   
   "This is unbelievable that it could possibly even hit again," he said. "We just started picking up (debris) two days ago." ||||| Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes caused as it swept across the Midwest overnight, killing at least nine and injuring dozens. 
   
   Lisa Ludlam holds her children, Jake, 6, Paige, 9, and Tony, 11, under the Cox Convention Center after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due... (Associated Press) 
   
   Cars that were damaged by a tornado in parking lot at Canadian Valley Technical Center on State Highway 66, west of Banner Road, Friday May 31, 2013 in El Reno, Okla. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)... (Associated Press) 
   
   Wilburn Shaw looks for personal items in the remains of his kitchen in his home on Saturday, June 1, 2013, after Friday night's storm that passed through St. Charles, Mo., area. The storm toppled cars... (Associated Press) 
   
   A man stands on top of his car as it is flooded on S. May Avenue near SW 25th in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 31, 2013, after severe weather moved through the area. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Sarah Phipps)... (Associated Press) 
   
   People stop traffic to help one of several loose horses across I-40 just east of 81 in El Reno, Okla., after a tornado moved through the area on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)... (Associated Press) 
   
   Overturned trucks block a frontage road off I-40 just east of 81 in El Reno, Okla., after a tornado moved through the area on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel) LOCAL STATIONS... (Associated Press) 
   
   A tornado forms near Banner Road and Praire Circle in El Reno, Okla. on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) (Associated Press) 
   
   Ron Ulloa looks over his damaged business at I-40 on May 31, 2013 in El Reno, Okla. Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes... (Associated Press) 
   
   The storm toppled cars and left commuters trapped on an interstate highway as it bore down during Friday's evening rush hour near Oklahoma City. The National Weather Service reported "several" tornadoes rolled in from the prairie, terrifying towns along their paths. 
   
   The storms brought another tense day for a region still reeling from the recent top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado that struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 20, killing 24 and decimating neighborhoods. Many said they took severe weather warnings issued during the day Friday seriously. 
   
   As the storm bore down on suburban Oklahoma City, Adrian Lillard, 28, of The Village, went to the basement of her mother's office building with a friend, her nieces, nephews and two dogs. 
   
   "My brother's house was in Moore, so it makes you take more immediate action," Lillard said while her young nieces played on a blanket on the floor of the parking garage. "We brought toys and snacks to try our best to keep them comfortable." 
   
   Storm chasers with cameras in their cars transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City just south of downtown. As the cell advanced, police urged motorists to leave I-40 and seek a safe place. 
   
   Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area. Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage. 
   
   Among the nine dead in Oklahoma were a mother and a baby found in a vehicle. Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner, said Saturday the death toll was up to seven adults and two children. At least 75 people were hurt, five critically, hospital officials said. 
   
   Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of the tornado that struck Moore. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman. 
   
   "Some tornadoes are wrapped in rain, so it's basically impossible to see, which is extremely dangerous," Thoren said. "Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it." 
   
   The heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had moved east. Highways and streets were clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city. Roads all around Oklahoma City were inundated with muddy water Saturday morning. 
   
   Will Rogers World Airport was slowly reopening and some flights were resuming. But the airport reported significant damage to the roof of the terminal, and flooding damage to walls, counters and floors. 
   
   Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. More than 86,000 utility customers were without power. 
   
   Among the injured was Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes, who suffered minor injuries when his "tornado hunt" SUV that he and two photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards. The Weather Channel said all of the people in the vehicle were able to walk away, and that it was the first time a network personality was injured in a storm. 
   
   In Missouri, the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew through, causing minor damage to the building. 
   
   Rich Gordon, of Jefferson City, said he was on the casino floor when he heard a loud "boom." 
   
   "I didn't know if it was lightning or what, but it was loud," Gordon said. 
   
   The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year and most are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most _ seven times each. 
   
   National Weather Service meteorologists said Saturday that it's unclear how many tornadoes touched down as part of the Friday evening storm system. Dozens of tornado warnings were issued for central Oklahoma and parts of Missouri, especially near St. Louis, they said, but crews must assess the damage before determining whether it was caused by tornadoes or severe thunderstorms. 
   
   But one thing is certain: The chances for severe weather are on the decline as a cold front moves through the region, said weather service meteorologist Gene Hatch in Springfield, Mo. 
   
   This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keepingfunnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Associated Press writers Ken Miller and Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, Justin Juozapavicius in Tulsa; Jeannie Nuss in Texarkana, Texas; and Jim Salter in Maryland Heights, Mo., and freelance photographer Nick Oxfrod in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
target: – Nine people are dead and dozens injured after a new round of tornadoes slammed Oklahoma last night, reports AP and CNN. Among the fatalities were a mother and infant, whose bodies were found near their car on I-40, a major state artery. Oklahoma City and its suburbs took the brunt of storms, which were followed by heavy flooding. Fuller assessments will become clearer this morning, but the tornadoes were not as powerful as the EF5 monster that hit Moore, Okla., less than two weeks ago. That city got hit again yesterday, however, with winds estimated at 80mph. "This storm had everything you could handle at one time: tornadoes, hail, lightning, heavy rain, people clogging the highways," says a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla.