A suspected tornado damaged and forced the closure of hotels in country-music destination Branson, Mo., on Wednesday.
Hilton said that both of its hotels in the city, the Hilton Branson Convention Center and Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing, sustained damage.
Both hotels closed Wednesday and are currently not taking reservations. Guests were relocated to other hotels and power that was lost during the night was restored, Hilton said.
Choice Hotels International said on Wednesday afternoon that five of its Branson hotels were damaged and that one of them has reopened.
InterContinental Hotels Group said the Holiday Inn Express 76 Central was hit by a tornado, and had to temporarily close due to damage. All guests have been relocated to nearby properties, IHG said.
According to the Associated Press, the tornado injured more than 30 people in Branson and damaged theaters in the city.
Branson, which bills itself as the “Live Entertainment Capital of the World,” attracts more than 7.5 million tourists annually, or more than a thousand times its permanent population.
Branson currently is in its low season for tourism; its high season is June through December.
Presumed twisters killed at least 13 people across the Midwestern states of Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, according to the Associated Press.
At least 16 tornadoes were reported across the region late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Last spring, a tornado killed 161 people in and around Joplin, Missouri, which is about 110 miles northwest of Branson.
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