GLENALLEN, Mo. – National Weather Service officials confirmed that an EF-2 tornado ripped through southern Missouri early Wednesday morning.

According to NWS, the twister formed in Bollinger County around 3:30 a.m. and lasted nearly half an hour. It peaked with gusts up to 130 miles per hour with a 22-mile path length and a 150-yard path width.

Five people died, and four people were hurt in Wednesday’s storms, per NWS.

Much of the destruction happened in the Glenallen and Grassy communities near Marble Hill, Missouri. There was extensive damage to homes, uprooted trees and crushed cars. Debris remains scattered around many homes and roads, while a local fire station was also destroyed.

The NWS tracked the tornado from two miles southwest of Grassy to three miles west of Millersville. Hundreds of trees are snapped, while dozens of homes and farm buildings along the path sustained major damage.

Fire crews from Kirkwood, Florissant, Union and Herculaneum are among those that offered help with search efforts Wednesday in Bollinger County. The sheriff’s office down there called for additional assistance after responding to Glenallen early Wednesday.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley both visited Bollinger County to assess damage in the aftermath. Gov. Parson says he plans to use all state resources available to help with recovery, and he spoke with President Biden’s administration on the impact.

Parson says the next steps are to analyze damage to see if the situation meets federal or state aid requirements for a disaster declaration.