A terrifying Twister rages through a residential area while debris is hurled into the sky

A massive tornado was filmed sweeping through residential Kansas and wreaking havoc, ripping off roofs from houses and tearing down power cables in a trail of destruction

A terrible tornado was filmed sweeping through residential Kansas, ripping off roofs, downing trees and overturning cars.

Footage shows the Twister swirling past houses in Andover. east of Wichita, over a menacingly dark sky, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

One person wrote: “A destructive tornado passed through Andover KS a few minutes ago.”

Shocking footage at the Andover YMCA shows several cars smashed into the building’s walls.

There were widespread reports of damage to homes as the tornado moved east and struck Andover just after 8 p.m. local time.

A Twitter user wrote: “There is some storm damage in a neighborhood east of Harry and Andover Road. Trees uprooted, roofs gone, walls collapsed. Lots of first responders in the area. Neighbors check each other.”

Several other tornadoes have also made landfall over Nebraska and Kansas, while a major storm system sweeps east from the central Rocky Mountains into the Midwest.

“A tornado is down. GET DOWN NOW!” wrote the US National Weather Service (NWS) office in Topeka on its website.

The service has a tornado weather warning through 4 a.m. in Kansas.

NWS Kansas City tweeted, “Western KC Metro may see 1″ hail and high winds from the incoming storms. Please take shelter if you are in western KC and surrounding areas!”

Video shows a large building with its roof ripped off and windows blown out by the storm.

There have been reports of hailstones as large as two inches falling in the storms.

The US National Weather Team said Friday, “A storm system moving into the central U.S. beginning Friday afternoon is likely to support the development of severe thunderstorms in parts of the central to southern prairies late afternoon through tonight.

“A combination of favorable wind shear and northward transport of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will result in the development of strong and violent thunderstorms beginning late Friday afternoon over the Great Plains.

“There will be the potential for significant tornadoes, destructive wind gusts and very large hail centered over southeastern Nebraska into eastern Kansas, as highlighted by the moderate risk set by the Storm Prediction Center.”

Tornadoes are not uncommon in Kansas, and Andover was hit by a devastating 1991 hurricane F5, killing 15 people and injuring over 200 others.