There were warnings going out throughout the morning, and this storm system marched across southern Illinois from Mississippi River to the Ohio River. But there probably were people who had little or no notice, because it was nighttime and they were asleep. It's ironic that just this week the Illinois Emergency Management Agency was telling people to be ready for storm season in March and to have those weather radios handy. So hopefully there were a few people that they heeded that warning and had them.

 

Jennifer Fuller reporting.

 

Missouri is reporting three more deaths from the overnight storms. Samual Crowe from member station KSMU in Springfield says the damage there is widespread.

 

Houses are destroyed. Cars are destroyed. You know, trees are just uprooted all over the place. Just volunteers right now that are sorting downed trees and downed power lines all over the place. People can't get in. People can't get out. I believe over 6,000 people are without power and drinks in the area right now. 

 

Samual Crowe of KSMU.

 

In Syria, fighting has intensified in the embattled city of Homs. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports residents say the Syrian army is trying to enter one embattled neighborhood and opposition rebels are fighting back.

 

Activists inside the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs say the army which had been bombarding the area from afar is now surrounding it up close. They say armed rebels are fighting fierce clashes with the army. One Syrian official had threatened to clean the area by the end of the day. The neighborhood that has seen some of the most fierce resistance to the government has been under government siege for nearly a month. This latest fighting comes after a group of dozens of journalists and activists trying to flee Baba Amr was ambushed. That group managed to help British photo journalist Paul Conroy and several Syrian activists to flee the country. But as the humanitarian crisis gets worse, many other activists, civilians and Western journalists remain. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Beirut.

 

“Here we come.” Davy Jones, a former member of the 1960s made-for-TV pop band The Monkees, has died. A spokesperson for the actor and musician says Jones passed away this morning in Florida of an apparent heart attack. Davy Jones was 66 years old.

 

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The Air Force's top general Norton Schwarz says the decision by a military mortuary to cremate and dump in landfill the remains of some people killed in the 9/11 attacks was in line with instructions from a top Pentagon official at the time. NPR's Craig Windham reports Schwarz says the guidance came from David Chu, who was the Pentagon's personnel chief during the George W. Bush administration.

 

A new Pentagon review has found the remains in question could not be tested or identified at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary, so they could have been from either victims or hijackers. But Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says the remains should not have ended up in a landfill.

 

“Prayer practices were not appropriate.”

 

And Retired General John Abizaid, who led the Pentagon probe, says the mortuary changed its practices in 2008.

 

“The fallen remains are taken out to sea, and they are buried at sea.”

 

Abizaid said that applies to unidentified remains and to partial remains of troops whose families give permission for burial at sea. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

A search continues for three people who onboard a US Coast Guard helicopter when it crashed on Alabama's Gulf Coast last night. Authorities say a fourth crew member has died. Divers were attempting to get inside the aircraft that submerged in Mobile Bay near Point Clear. Fog has hampered the air search.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up six points at 13,011, in trading of about two billion shares. NASDAQ Composite Index down slightly at last glance at 2,986. And the S&P 500, well, that's up slightly at 1,373. 

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.