A woman was reported killed about 4 p.m. a few miles south of Sedalia, Mo., when a tornado struck her trailer home. Later Sunday evening, Henry County authorities were investigating a man who was found dead north of Urich. His house was destroyed. Neither victim's name was released Sunday.

In a normal year, western Missouri and eastern Kansas see about 11 reports of tornadoes and 350 reports of severe weather, said Mike Hudson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Pleasant Hill.

Early reports indicate the region saw at least 15 twisters on Sunday, with more than 200 reports of severe storms, Hudson said. "We had a full season of tornadoes today and tonight alone."

About 100 homes and businesses were either destroyed or heavily damaged in Pettis, though the tornadoes stayed out of Sedalia's city limits. Authorities reported six persons injured and two others missing. About 150 residents were displaced.

In Johnson County, Mo., about 28 properties were damaged just in the eastern half of the county, said Karen Eagleson, the emergency management director. Workers were still gathering damage estimates late Sunday night. At one point, a tornado wider than a half-mile dragged across northern Johnson County.

Winds blew over five tractor-trailers on Interstate 70 near Sweet Springs about 8:20 p.m., the Missouri Highway Patrol reported. Dispatchers could not say how many, if any, people were injured.

Almost all of the metropolitan area was affected at one point during the day. Sibley and southern Ray County saw at least two tornadoes on the ground early Sunday, the weather service reported. There were no reported serious injuries, but telephone poles were snapped in two on Blue Mills Road in rural Jackson County.

Another heavily damaged area was Lawrence, where high winds that moved in about 8 a.m. felled trees and power lines, damaged roofs on numerous houses and businesses and knocked out power to much of the city. Cars and buildings on parts of the campus of the University of Kansas were damaged and much of the campus was without electricity.

A second wave of storms triggered a tornado warning at 11 a.m. for parts of Buchanan and Clinton counties north of Kansas City. And a third wave of severe weather prompted tornado warnings after 2 p.m. for most of the metropolitan area.

The weather service said the supercell thunderstorms were caused by an extremely strong upper jet stream across Kansas and Missouri combined with south winds near the surface drawing in warm and moist air that spawned hail, some up to baseball size.

Spotters reported funnel clouds about 2:30 p.m. in Kansas City, Kan. and a Jackson County Sheriff's dispatcher said a tornado was reported at 9:12 a.m. near the Missouri Public Service power plant in Sibley.

Several Lawrence residents reported seeing a tornado when the overpowering storm moved in, but that was not confirmed by the National Weather Service.

Many homes in the heavily treed downtown residential neighborhoods suffered damage from falling braches and trees. Several storefronts had broken windows. Power lines littered city streets as crews cordoned off some areas and began repairs.

At one point about 24,000 customers of Westar Energy were without power. By 6 p.m. electricity had been restored to all but about 8,000 customers with help from crews from Salina, Manhattan and Topeka.

University buildings lost roof tiles, windows were broken and one large air-conditioning unit was blown off the roof of a residence hall. Several buildings, including Anschutz Library and the chancellor's residence were damaged, said Joy Moser, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.

A few of the small, ornamental brick spires atop the Plymouth Congregational Church in downtown Lawrence were destroyed, their bricks littering the road in front of the church.

By noon, however, most of downtown's eateries and bars had opened, welcoming crowds of basketball fans intent on watching the Big 12 basketball championship game between KU and the University of Texas.

Ray County Emergency Management Director April Tarrant said two persons were treated for minor injuries but there were no reports of homes destroyed or people displaced. More than 600 homes in Richmond, Mo., were without power.

Kansas City largely escaped serious damage but a hangar at the Wheeler Downtown Airport was damaged by high wind and power was disrupted at Terminal A of the Kansas City International Airport. No flights were delayed.

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