PIEDMONT, Mo. (AP) — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.S.

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.