A deadly tornado outbreak ripped through Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Mississippi overnight Friday, leaving destruction, power outages and tragic loss in its wake.

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.

Residents pounded by unusually vicious weather across parts of the U.S. surveyed damage Sunday from violent tornadoes, high winds and blinding dust storms that decimated homes and other structures and left at least 35 people dead.