A tornado originating in Washington, Illinois, killed at least six people and injured hundreds of others this past weekend.

The ABC News affiliate in Chicago, IL, is reporting that the storm -- which touched down on Sunday, and was initially reported as an EF-4 category storm -- has damaged between 250 and 500 buildings, and injured more than 150 people. Jonathon Monken, who is the director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, told the Chicago ABC News affiliate that the storm was an "unprecedented event" for this time of year.

Residents from all over the state were devastated by the catastrophic events of this weekend. "We got home from having breakfast, and then, the power was out instantly when we got home. I could see the dust coming from the tornado, and it sounded like a train coming at us and we jumped in the closet and covered ourselves with pillows," Phil Bolam, a Washington resident, told ABC News.

“The whole neighborhood’s gone. The wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house,” Michael Perdun told the Associated Press over the phone, where he said his neighborhood was wiped out in a matter of seconds.

In addition to this devastation, the New York Daily News is reporting that even though Illinois bore the brunt of the damage, over 10 states -- and over 50 million people therein -- are susceptible to collateral damage as a result of the tornado. "This is a very dangerous situation," Russell Schneider, director of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, told the paper. "Approximately 53 million in 10 states are at significant risk for thunderstorms and tornadoes."

Residents in several parts of the state live Tweeted some photos of the damage as the storm took place, and the storm even halted the Bears-Ravens game that took place at Soldier Field earlier that day. Washington mayor Gary Manier, meanwhile, took to his Twitter to ask his followers to "please pray" for the residents of his town in the wake of the storm. The American Red Cross has set up the Peoria chapter in Illinois to aide the people who suffered damage in the wake of the storm.