Over the past 24 hours, more than 40 reported tornadoes have swept across eight states in the Midwest and South -- and the dangerous severe weather threat continues. The eight states with reported tornadoes in the past day are Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee.

At least 33 people were killed in a powerful cross-country storm system that has devastated much of the Midwest and Southeast since Friday, officials said. The death toll continues to rise as severe weather and raging tornadoes obliterate homes,