At least 12 people in Missouri and eight in Kansas died over the weekend in the catastrophic storms that raged from the Midwest and South to the east coast.

Friends and family are mourning young Dawson Hogan, a sophomore at Fort Hays Tech Northwest in Goodland, one of eight killed in a massive 71-vehicle pileup on I-70 in Kansas during a blinding dust storm. He was traveling home to Salina to be with family during spring break Friday.

In Missouri, where multiple tornadoes carved paths of death and destruction, 43-year-old Jennifer Brewington was found dead in her Florissant back yard of suspected electrocution from downed power lines. She was to be married in October.

Wayne County, south of St. Louis, was particularly hard-hit, with eight deaths, according to KFVS.

“Three of those killed were at a campground in the county, while two others died at a second campground after a camper ended up in a river,” the station reported.

In unincorporated Villa Ridge southwest of St. Louis, a tornado laid waste to a gas station and trapped 13 inside a Burger King bathroom. While first responders initially detected no signs of life inside, the Burger King manager, who’d been on the phone with those trapped, insisted they were still inside. Firefighters were able to rescue them, all uninjured.

The Missouri emergency management agency initially reported as many as 19 tornadoes hitting Missouri. Station KSDK in St. Louis reported six touchdowns just in that region:

• Tornado damage rated at least EF3 was confirmed around Des Arc, but the survey was not complete as of Sunday night. NWS said the rating may change.
• Tornado damage rated as high as EF2 was observed from Chesterfield through Maryland Heights, Bridgeton, Florissant and other communities, but the survey was not complete as of Sunday night. NWS said the rating may change.
• An EF2 tornado touched down near Rolla around 7:50 p.m. with peak winds of 120 mph. The tornado left one person injured and damaged several homes, schools, and businesses.
• An EF2 tornado touched down southwest of Gray Summit near Villa Ridge around 8:56 p.m. with a max wind speed of 130 mph. The tornado caused significant structure damage and intense, concentrated damage to a heavily wooded area.
• An EF2 tornado touched down north of Hillsboro near Belews Creek around 9:20 p.m. and continued northeast toward Arnold with a max wind speed of 115 mph. The twister caused trees to be uprooted and significant roof damage to residential homes.
• An EF1 tornado touched down west of Sullivan near Elmont around 8:30 p.m. with max wind speeds of 105 mph. The tornado primarily damaged several homes, outbuildings, telephone poles, and trees on the southern outskirts of Union.

“I spent today in some of the hardest-hit areas of our state,” Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe wrote in an X post on Saturday. “The damage is overwhelming, but so is the strength of our communities.

“While Missouri remains in a State of Emergency, we are working closely with state and federal partners to get help where it is needed most.”

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley posted his condolences to the victims’ survivors – and a promise to insurance companies providing coverage in the affected areas.

“Erin’s and my hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones – we pray for the Lord to comfort them, and for the rebuilding to be speedy,” Hawley wrote.

“To the insurance companies that will soon be processing Missourians’ claims from these storms: process the claims quickly and IN FULL – or expect a subpoena from me to testify before the Homeland Security Committee.”