At least five people were killed as tornadoes left a trail of destruction in North Carolina on Saturday, leveling homes and businesses and knocking out power, NBC television reported. [break]
One person was killed in Alabama´s Marengo Country while six more died in Autauga and Washington Counties, MSNBC television reported.
The storm toppled trees and power lines, tore roofs off houses and scattered tractor-trailers across highways.
Two dozen tornadoes were reported in the southern states of Mississippi and Alabama on Friday, a day after 15 twisters struck in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, the National Weather Service said.
Many of Friday´s deaths were in rural areas of Arkansas, where seven people were killed, and most of the damage was caused by falling trees.
But the storm was powerful enough to lift a double-wide trailer into the air and toss it about 70 feet (21 meters), killing a 65-year-old woman and critically injuring a 70-year-old man inside.
"Three of the seven victims were seven years of age or younger," said Tommy Jackson, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
"It´s quite sad."
Falling trees killed a mother and her seven-year-old child in a house in Little Rock city, while a father and his infant son died in their mobile home in Garland County, Jackson said.
A six-year-old child was also killed when a tree fell on a White County house and a man was killed when a tree crashed on his trailer in Pulasky County.
Two other people were killed in Oklahoma when a major twister tore through Atoka County.
"It´s pretty extensive," said Laura Taylor of the county sheriff´s office. "There are several houses destroyed. The school is pretty much leveled and there´s two confirmed dead."
Another person was killed in Greene County, Mississippi, according to local media.
Meanwhile, North Dakota struggled to contain near-record flooding of the Red River.
Related story
At least 5 dead as series of tornadoes strike Deep South
