MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Many survivors of the tornado that killed 12-year-old Billy Hoover and injured at least 12 others early Sunday said they didn't know a storm with winds of up to 200 mph was bearing down on them. The tornado splintered trees, made whole houses disappear and tossed around cars along a 4-mile long stretch just south of Marble Hill. Many rescue workers said they'd never seen anything like it and likened the devastation to "a war zone."

The National Weather Service had not posted a tornado warning when the storm hit between 12:40 and 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Kyle Sutherland, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said rotation was seen in the storm on radar. "But it didn't meet the criteria needed to issue a tornado warning," he said.

Bollinger County went under a tornado watch at 11:12 p.m. Saturday, and a severe thunderstorm warning was issued at

Many of those who survived said they went to bed without knowing severe weather was coming in and were awakened by hail and and the sound of trees snapping just before the tornado hit.