UPDATED 5:50 p.m. with more information about storm's intensity in Sunset Hills.

ST. LOUIS • A series of tornadoes stirred by a powerful, fast-moving storm caused significant damage in the St. Louis metropolitan area, flattening homes in Sunset Hills  and leaving thousands without power.

The storm left three dead in Missouri - two in Dent County and one in Phelps County - before continuing northeast through St. Louis and into southern Illinois.

The State Emergency Management Agency confirmed three deaths -- two in Dent County, one in Phelps -- from the storm. All three victims, an agency spokesman said, were in mobile homes when the storm hit.

The storm also caused critical injury to an individual in Phelps County, along with multiple minor injuries across the state.

"These were tornadoes," confirmed National Weather Service meteorologist Wes Browning in Weldon Spring.

There were reports of hail up to one inch in diameter and wind gusts up to 60 mph in the path of the storm, Browning said.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in response to the severe weather.

Some parts of the Metro East remain under tornado watch or warning, but the danger has for the most part moved to the east.

A tornado warning means there's actually evidence of a tornado, either from witnesses or by radar. Those in a tornado warning area or who hear tornado sirens should take cover immediately, according to the National Weather Service.

Scattered reports of damage to homes, cars and trees in the area flowed into the weather service.

Just after noon, a tornado struck Sunset Hills, tearing through an area roughly equivalent to a city block along Lindbergh Boulevard. It struck with enough force to level homes and at least one business, topple trucks, and tip utility poles.

The National Weather Service estimated the Sunset Hills tornado intensity to be greater than EF3 on the Fujita damage scale, which means the tornado produced "severe damage" and winds around 160 mph.

The SSM Imaging Center on the 3800 block of Lindbergh was severely damaged and several houses to the west were leveled.

"The power went out and 10 seconds later it sounded like a freight train," said Kevin O'Leary, owner of O'Leary's Pub. "My wife was in the office and got out two seconds before it blew the windows out."

O'Leary said about 20 to 25 customers were in the restaurant and pub at the time and all escaped without incident.

Mehlville Fire Protection District Chief Tim White directed search and rescue efforts as teams of firefighters scoured rubble of from leveled homes for people who may have been trapped inside.

"The damage is substantial," he said.

White said there were only four minor injuries, people who sustained cuts or bruises. He said it is "a blessing" that no one was more seriously injured or killed "when you see this kind of destruction."

White didn't immediately know how many homes were destroyed or damaged.

It appears the tornado traveled west to east.

The epicenter of the damage was near the intersection of Court Drive and Lindbergh.

Bill Nolan, Mayor of Sunset Hills, said six to eight families were displaced by the storm. The mayor was working with a local hotel to find places for them to stay. Most homes on the south side of Court Drive sustained significant damage.

Chad Mayer, an assistant manager of Massage Envy on Lindbergh, was tracking the storm online, but had no warning when the tornado struck, he said.

"It was just intense rain, intense wind and then everything just blew up," he said.

The Massage Envy store/office is located just across Lindbergh from the homes that were destroyed. The store itself sustained a hole in the roof, the break room was flooded, power went out and ceiling tiles fell. About 20 people in the building when the tornado struck.

Mayer said most people inside were evacuated to a central hallway until it passed.

Amy Kalma, a Massage Envy employee, was there on her day off getting a massage when the tornado hit. She and the massage therapist took refuge under the massage table.

"I got off the table and got underneath and started praying with her," Kalma said.

No one realized the extent of what happened until they saw the destruction across the street. "We saw what happened across the street and just thanked God that we were alive," she said.

Mark Stolzer was at home with his sister and one of her friends. They narrowly missed having their home destroyed. He had turned off the TV because he was tired of listening to storm coverage, and was on his laptop when the tornado struck.

He noticed the pressure change in the house, like a vacuum, and was unable to close a door.

"I heard the windows bust out," he said.

His Court Drive home, just across from the homes that were destroyed, sustained a hole in the roof, broken out windows and the electrical service was blown down. There was water and storm debris inside his home.

Stolzer couldn't believe what he saw when he looked outside. Homes were destroyed, a tree had fallen on his neighbors home.

"It was an unbelievable sight," he said. "It was clear that there were cars that had rolled down the street."

Lindbergh Boulevard was closed in both directions at Eddie and Park Road in Sunset Hills and are diverting traffic away from the area because of downed power lines and debris.  One direction of Watson Road at Lindbergh was closed because utility polls were too close to the highway.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is diverting traffic to Big Bend Boulevard to get around that Watson closure, said Kara Price, a spokeswoman. Motorists can avoid the Lindbergh closure by taking Interstate 270.

The storm threw lumber and debris all over the place and up against homes and businesses like Johnny Mac's Sporting Goods, 10100 Watson Road.

When the electricity went out there, employees and customers there rushed to the warehouse for cover, said Laura Jundt, 32, who was ringing out customers at the time.

She said the sky light broke out in the hockey department and lumber flew up against the building.

"There was just a horrible noise of stuff hitting the building," she said, adding that the boards, "I don't know what they ripped off of or where it came from."

In eastern Franklin County, nearly every building in the unincorporated town of Robertsville sustained damage.

The Hayfield Estates subdivision was hit especially hard. The garage of one home was crumple to the ground. Broken rafters jutted into the homes living room. Plastic sheets covered the pews in the nearby Shiloh Baptist Church.

No one was hurt

In Fenton, the tornado damaged the school, rectory and sanctuary building at St. Paul's Catholic Church. Two priests who were inside the rectory when the tornado hit escaped unharmed after retreating to the basement.

In St. Louis, winds battered the historic Lewis Place neighborhood, north of the Central West End.

One resident said that power lines, window awnings and even a car bumper had been displaced by the storm, which hit quickly and loudly.

"You heard like this 'Boom!'," said Lewis Place homeowner Barbara McCalebb. "That's when debris started flying."

McCalebb, 70, credited city firefighters, who were checking in on homes and residents immediately after the storm.

"It was very frightening," McCalebb said. "I'm still petrified, but I'm OK."

Jefferson County escaped major damage and Ed Kemp, the county's director of emergency management, said he had not received any reports of tornado touchdowns.

Kemp said parts of the county did get hit by pea-sized hail and there was some wind damage, but there were no reports of injuries.

Hail and strong winds are now being reported in the Metro East as the storm heads into Illinois.

The storm did not cause any air traffic delays at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, said Elizabeth Isham Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration.

One woman was killed and some 25 homes were damaged or destroyed in a tornado that hit just north of Rolla around 10 a.m. today, said Rolla Rural Fire Department Chief Bruce Southard.

The tornado hit just north of Interstate 44, tearing through a swath of wooded land three or four miles long that included a trailer park and set of apartments, Southard said.

The woman, who has not been identified, was in her home when she died, Southard said. Four other people were treated and released from the hospital and at least two others received minor injuries.

"There's a lot of damage," Southard said. "Some of the houses are just totally flat."

Southard, who'd dispatched trucks before the storm, said "we could hear the roar."

The State Emergency Management Agency confirmed two deaths in Dent County and one in Phelps County from the storm. All three victims, an agency spokesman said, were in mobile homes when the storm hit.

The storm also caused critical injury to an individual in Phelps County, along with multiple minor injuries across the state.

Near Bland, in Gasconade County, authorities reported large, uprooted trees and debris. Hail was reported in Bowling Green, Steelville and Fulton.

After a white Christmas, temperatures have climbed and may hit 70 degrees today. That's due to the warm, stormy weather coming in from the southwest.

Most of the counties in the metro area, on both sides of the Mississippi River, are under the tornado watch until 3 p.m.

Counties include Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis and Warren counties and St. Louis city in Missouri and Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison and Monroe counties in Illinois.

Browning, the meteorologist, said the juxtaposition of cold temperatures to the west and unseasonably warm temperatures in the mid-60s in St. Louis creatd "a lot of energy" in the atmosphere, leading to wind sheer.

The National Weather Service says a tornado watch means conditions are "favorable for tornadoes" and severe thunderstorms. The weather service says those in and near the watch area should be on the lookout for threatening conditions and listen for tornado warnings.

Cold weather is expected to return on New Year's Day.