A vicious storm tore through the Kansas City area, spawning tornadoes that downed trees and power lines, damaged homes and injured at least a dozen people in the latest barrage of severe weather that saw tornado warnings as far east as New York City.
The latest round of damaging weather in the central US came a day after violent storms killed one person and injured at least 130 in Indiana and Ohio.
Mark Duffin, 48, learned from his wife and a television report that the large tornado was headed toward his home in Linwood, Kansas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Kansas City.
The next thing he knew, the walls of his house were coming down.
Duffin told the Kansas City Star that he grabbed a mattress, followed his 13-year-old to the basement and protected the two of them with the mattress as the home crashed down around them.
"I'm just glad I found my two dogs alive," he said.
"Wife's alive, family's alive, I'm alive. So, that's it."