A small tornado also touched down for two minutes in the Pico Rivera area between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. With wind speeds of 85 mph it was given EF rating of 0, the lowest level on the enhanced Fujita scale. No injuries were reported, but the high winds damaged homes, cars and trees.

Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.

The weather cut a swathe of destruction across an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people.