Stacy Broniak and neighborhood firefighter Todd Woolf look for medication and oxygen supplies at the home Stacy's grandmother in Kokomo, Indiana, on Sunday, November 17. Severe weather erupted throughout the Midwest and caused extensive damage on Sunday: 
An overturned car rests in a pile of rubble about a mile northeast of Washington, Illinois, on November 17. Washington is in central Illinois, east of Peoria. 
Maranda Souders picks up a crystal bowl and cup while searching through debris from her grandmother's home in Brookport, Illinois, after a tornado hit the small town in far southern part of the state on November 17. 
A stuffed animal lies in the road in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters survey the damage at Mintonye Elementary School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. A series of strong thunderstorms pounded Tippecanoe County, northwest of Indianapolis, on Sunday. 
The south wall was ripped off the gymnasium at Southwestern Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. 
The roof was torn off this classroom at Southwestern Middle School in Lafayette, Indiana, on November 17. 
A firefighter works to clear a tree from a street in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
An elderly woman is escorted through tornado debris in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. 
Dave Huffman sorts through his belongings in the living room of his destroyed home in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. Kokomo is almost 60 miles north of Indianapolis, the state capital. 
The roof of a building sits in the middle of the road in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. 
A car sits among the debris of a leveled home in Kokomo, Indiana, on November 17. 
Ray Baughman embraces family shortly after his home was destroyed by a tornado south of Peoria in Pekin, Illinois, on November 17. 
A firefighter, in lower center of photo, peers down into the home of a colleague whose home was destroyed when a tornado swept through Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters look over damage to trailers at Summit Village, east of Marion, Indiana, after storms blew through Marion and Grant County, northeast of Indianapolis, on November 17. 
The Irvington Post Office is badly damaged after heavy rain and high winds hit Indianapolis on November 17. 
Volunteers try to reposition the HVAC unit on top of Heritage Primary Elementary School in Wentzville, Missouri, on November 17. Board members, staff and teachers came to the school to help with the cleanup after a storm tore off parts of the roof. Wentzville is about 40 miles west of St. Louis. 
Richard Miller salvages items from his brother's home in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
Corn husks fly through the air as Eric Crawford checks his mail after the storm passed in rural Orchard Farm, Missouri, on November 17. 
Firefighters stretch caution tape around the New Life Tabernacle Church in Paducah, Kentucky, on November 17. 
A fallen tree blocks traffic on November 17 in Marion, Indiana. 
Water shoots from broken pipes after part of a wall and roof collapsed on November 17 at the Dollar General distribution center east of Marion, Indiana. 
Tornado victims sift through an overturned mobile home in Brookport, Illinois, on November 17. A tornado ripped through the small town in southern Illinois. 
A home is damaged by a tree that was uprooted during the storm in Pekin on November 17. Pekin is part of the cluster of towns in central Illinois hit hard by the severe weather. 
Chuck Phillips looks out at the destruction that tore off part of his roof and destroyed homes in his neighborhood on November 17 in Pekin. 
A police officer talks with a resident in Pekin after a tornado touched down in the area on November 17. 
An apartment manager warns Illinois State University students to stay back from a roof that blew off "The U" student apartments in Normal, Illinois, on November 17. 
Firefighters stand in the middle of the street after a tornado leveled at homes in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
People survey storm damage on November 17 in Hustisford, Wisconsin, which is northwest of Milwaukee. 
Billy Vestal evacuates his home in East Peoria, Illinois, with his 3-year-old daughter, Lillian Vestal, after a tornado damaged the area on November 17. 
An Ameren Illinois utility worker walks past homes looking for gas and electrical hazards in Washington, Illinois, on November 17. 
A damaged cattle shed sits on a family farm in Hustisford, Wisconsin, on November 17. Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joseph Meagher says no cattle were injured. 
Josh Ramsey recovers items from the house of a family friend after a tornado tore through the north end of Pekin, Illinois, on November 17. 
Members of Soldier Field's ground crew prepare the field to resume play after a severe storm blew through the area on November 17 and suspended play during the first half of the game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. 
Fans begin to clear the stands during the rain and high winds at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 17. 
Baltimore Ravens players leave the field after the game was delayed on November 17. 
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- A third person died in Massac County, Illinois, bringing the state death toll to 6
- 81 tornadoes were reported across the Midwest
- "I don't have anything. ... It's gone," a storm victim says
- More than a half million people are without power in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio
Are you there? Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please stay safe.
Washington, Illinois (CNN) -- They sifted through the darkness, hoping their flashlights would shine on something -- anything -- salvageable.
Instead, they found their life's belongings strewn in pieces among heaps of rubble where their homes once stood.
But they were the fortunate ones -- the ones who survived after 81 reported tornadoes tore through the Midwest on Sunday. The storms killed six people and destroyed at least 70 homes in Illinois alone.
"These storms having been moving so fast today, it's been hard to keep up," storm chaser Tony Laubach told CNN as he watched a tornado touch down outside Lebanon, Indiana.
In their aftermath, the storms left impassable roads, widespread outages and blocks and blocks of homes stripped bare. Hundreds of thousands were affected; the economic impact in the millions.
"A lot of people have a pile of rubble still, and I don't have anything," said Michelle Crumrine. "It's gone. I don't know where it went."
'I heard my neighbor screaming' 
In Midwest, tornadoes bring loss 
Startling video of tornado touching down 
Indianapolis weather timelapse Crumrine was out of town when her neighborhood in Washington, Illinois, was hit. She returned to a wasteland.
Of all the cities ravaged by the storms, this city of 10,000 people in central Illinois was perhaps the hardest hit.
"It was complete destruction," said resident Anthony Khoury. "There are people in the streets crying."
As the dark twister churned toward his home, Khoury kept his camera glued to the window -- and prayed.
"Our father, thou art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name."
"The tornado happened in my backyard, and you can hear people screaming," he told CNN's iReport. "We were freaking out."
Investigators have yet to determine the extent of the wrath -- including exactly how many tornadoes touched down. Two National Weather Service teams will survey the damage Monday -- one in Washington, and one in east central Illinois.
Widespread destruction
Throughout the night, rescue workers went door to door, poring through the rubble, looking for trapped residents.
In Illinois, two deaths were reported in Nashville; two in the Brookport area; one in Washington; and one near Unionville, officials said.
An EF4 tornado packing a peak wind of 166 mph hit ripped through Washington County, Illinois, leaving a path of debris that stretched more than 3 miles, according to a preliminary survey by the National Weather Service.
Brutal winds also flipped over at least six trucks overturned on highways about 80 miles west of Chicago, the Ogle County Sheriff's Office said.
Tornado touches down outside of Peoria 
Storm eyewitness: Roofs were blown off 
Chicago's Soldier Field evacuated 
Tornado on the ground in Illinois In Missouri, state emergency officials said a tornado may have hit Scott County, where heavy winds overturned three rail cars and blew over four mobile homes.
And the mayor of Kokomo, Indiana, declared a state of emergency and closed schools for Monday. While the state of emergency was set to be lifted at 6 a.m. Monday, "unnecessary travel in the affected areas is still prohibited," city officials tweeted.
There, the roof of a building sat in the middle of a road. A car rested on the mountain of rubble from a leveled home.
More than 160,000 people are without power across the state, said John Erickson, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is scheduled to tour the storm damage Monday.
Clearing Soldier Field
Officials delayed the NFL game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens for almost two hours as storms approached Chicago, warning spectators to leave the stands at Soldier Field and head for covered areas.
"The rain started coming, the skies got black, the wind was insane, and they evacuated us to underneath the concrete concourse," said Jim Arnold, who was at the game with his 11-year-old daughter.
"We've been through 15-degree-below weather and winds, but never anything like this," Arnold said. "The winds gusted at 70 mph, and the winds and the rain were horizontal and everybody was running. It was just crazy."
Fans returned to their seats and the game resumed after the storm passed.
Incredible footage of a tornado in Washington, Illinois
Massive power outages
In Michigan, high winds knocked out power to at least 390,000 customers, utility companies said.
The storms also wiped out power for more than 75,000 residents in Ohio, emergency officials said.
CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis said the weather outbreak came later in the year than some might have expected.
"The primary time for tornadoes, as we well know, is springtime. Then we see a second high that comes in the fall," she said. "Is this late? It is rather late, because the temperatures have been very warm."
"On the backside of that, temperatures are dramatically cooler. So that cold air is filtering in behind it, warm air out ahead of it," she said. "And ... we get some twisting motion in the atmosphere. And that's why we see this tornadic activity."
While parts of Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee were under the gun for more severe weather, no tornado warnings were in place for Monday morning.
CNN's Ted Rowlands reported from Washington, Illinois. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Holly Yan reported from Atlanta. CNN's Joe Sutton, George Howell, Steve Almasy, Sean Morris, Dave Alsup, Jareen Imam, David Ruff, Taylor Ward, Janet DiGiacomo, Tom Faust, Haley Draznin, Haimy Assefa, Todd Borek and Rick Martin contributed to this report.
