Tornado touches down near St. Mary

A large tornado flattened homes and injured people in northern Perry County Saturday night, the National Weather Service said.

The tornado touched down near St. Mary about 9:40 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. An hour later, people were still trapped in debris from destroyed mobile homes, the service said on its Web site.

A powerful thunderstorm, moving northeast at 35 mph, spawned the tornado near the border of Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties, weather forecasters said.

The system moved into Southern Illinois, where more tornadoes were reported.