21 dead in Mo., Okla., Ga. after new round of storms

Officials held out hope that they wouldn't find any more bodies in this town, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that dwindled to about 800 people as families fled lead pollution here.

Residents said the tornado created a surreal scene as it moved through Picher late Saturday afternoon, injuring 150 people, overturning cars, throwing mattresses and twisted metal high into the canopy of trees.

"I swear I could see cars floating," said Herman Hernandez, 68. "And there was a roar, louder and louder."

The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri, where tornadoes killed at least 13 others. The storms moved eastward; On Sunday, storms in Georgia killed at least one people.

In Seneca, Mo., about 20 miles southeast of Picher near the Oklahoma border, crews on Sunday combed farm fields looking for bodies and survivors.

"We are still conducting search and rescue," said Susie Stonner, a Missouri emergency management spokeswoman. "Many people left the area if their homes were destroyed and they may have gone to stay with friends."

Jane Lant was sorting through the debris of her bridal shop about 10 miles north of Seneca. A body wrapped in blue tarp lay next to the shop. Her husband's feed store and a home across the road were also destroyed.

Lant said they were thankful that the story had closed an hour before the twister hit.

"We would have had people in here at 6 when it hit," she said.