But there were no reports of any deaths from Monday night's storms.
The National Weather Service had reports of possible tornadoes in Livingston, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway, Harrison, Linn, Worth and Macon counties in northwest Missouri, and in Republic, Washington, Wabaunsee, Shawnee and Osage counties in northern and eastern Kansas. Many of those tornadoes touched down in rural areas, including farmland, causing little damage.
In Gentry County, Robert Crockett, the emergency management coordinator, said the twister damaged his house, along with almost every business along the stretch of U.S. 136 that runs through Albany. Many were relying on emergency generators for power Monday night.
``The east part of town took a big lick,'' Crockett said.
The roof of Northwest Medical Center in Albany was damaged, but no one in the hospital was hurt. The hospital was running on auxiliary power and lost water service, so its 10 patients were evacuated to other hospitals.
``The amount of the damage is going to be significant,'' said hospital spokesman Chuck Davis.
The entire town still was without electricity Tuesday morning, and the best guess at city hall was that power wouldn't return until Wednesday night.
City clerk Janet Sweat said she would spend the day taking phone calls and directing volunteers to an emergency command center set up by Crockett.
``There's a lot of activity today,'' Sweat said. ``Businesses for the most part along the highway are concentrating on cleanup. Most are damaged to a degree they won't be able to open, anyway. There are a lot of offers of help.''
Among the most heavily damaged businesses is the town's only grocery store, which lost a roof and had a wall collapse. Gentry County Commissioner Bill Rigney said a local Casey's store and gas stations also were closed.
In northwest Missouri, between five and 10 tornadoes touched down from two supercell storms that tracked across U.S. 136 and U.S. 36, said meteorologist Lynn Maximuk of the National Weather Service. The stronger storm hit Albany, where the Red Cross set up emergency shelters.
``We do have businesses that have been hit, houses that have been hit,'' said Brian Lathrop, a Gentry County dispatcher. ``We've got trees scattered everywhere and power lines down everywhere.''
Meanwhile, Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe said 10 people were brought there with minor injuries from the storm that went through Livingston County. The injured included two girls who were in a mobile home that was picked up by a tornado and dropped onto a car.
Four tornadoes touched down in or near Chillicothe in about one hour Monday night, with most of the damage east and south of the city, police dispatcher Cindy Hanavan said.
Dispatcher Donna George said the tornado also destroyed a cafe in Meadville. She said a shelter had been set up for people in the area with no place to stay Monday night, but no one had shown up as of 10 p.m.
In Macon, high winds blew down the screen at the Macon Drive-In, a local landmark that has been in operation since 1952.
Susan Arnold, daughter of owner Dan Arnold, said the drive-in was not insured, and her parents don't know if they'll rebuild the theater that was built by Dan Arnold's father.
``Our e-mail is full of messages for a 'save the drive-in' campaign,'' Susan Arnold said. ``People want to come help. Macon is a town of 5,500 people, and there's not a lot to do in a small town.''
She estimated the cost to rebuild the screen at about $30,000.
In the Topeka, Kan., area, storms damaged two businesses.
``We saw a funnel cloud, and we saw it touch down a few times,'' said Scott Bayless, who lives in Shawnee County.
Propane gas was leaking from one of the businesses and power lines were down, Shawnee County Sheriff's Deputy Jay Boyles said, causing officials to block traffic in the area until it was deemed safe.
A number of tornadoes touched down in Republic County in northern Kansas, the sheriff's department said, but there were no reports of injuries and the only damage came from golf-ball-sized hail that broke car windows in Belleville.
``Three or four of them came in from Nebraska into the northern part of the county,'' dispatcher Joe Herrick said, ``but they were all over open farm area.''
