New Delhi, May 1 -- Glass shards flew everywhere as Eric Gockel waited out one of the worst hailstorms to hit Missouri.

One of the softball-size hunks of ice that hit the Springfield area on Tuesday measured 4.75 inches (12 centimeters). The hail killed an emu at the zoo, injured some drivers, knocked out power to thousands and damaged hundreds of vehicles and even some aircraft.

"I feel blessed that I came out unscathed," Gockel, whose windshield was battered as he waited in his car along the side of a highway for the storm to pass, said Wednesday.

Severe spring weather is plaguing the South and Midwest, and emergency management officials said the hailstorm was Springfield's worst in history, although it falls short of a state record....