Tornadoes rip through four central U.S. states

Flattened homes and scattered debris in the U.S. state of Oklahoma after a massive storm ripped through four central U.S. states on Sunday.

Local media said at least one person died here in Shawnee, just outside Oklahoma City.

Fist-sized hail, blinding rain and more than two dozen tornadoes were reported in parts of Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois.

Chuck Walton described the moment one tornado hit.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHUCK WALTON, HOME DAMAGED BY TORNADO SAYING:

"No sooner than we got in the basement, we saw heavy wind and heavy rain and after it subsided we saw that we had sustained quite a bit of damage."

Meteorologists had been warning for days that a powerful front was expected to blast through the region, spawning potentially destructive twisters as it made its way north from Texas.

The extreme weather is expected to continue into Monday.