Latest: 10 killed as storms and flooding sweep across US
At least 10 people have been killed in severe storms rolling across the US.
Tornadoes hit several small towns in East Texas, killing four people. Three people were killed by flooding and winds in Arkansas, with officials saying two more people are missing. Rushing water swept away a car, drowning a woman in Missouri; and a death was reported in Sunday morning storms that raked Mississippi.
An Arkansas volunteer fire department chief was killed while working during storms in north-central Arkansas, state police said.
Cove Creek/Pearson Fire Chief Doug Decker died shortly before 4am on Sunday after being struck by a vehicle while checking water levels on Highway 25 near Quitman, about 40 miles north of Little Rock, Trooper Liz Chapman said. It was not known if he will be included as a storm-related death, she said.
Rescuers in north-west Arkansas continued on Sunday to look for an 18-month-old girl and a four-year-old boy who were in a vehicle swept off a bridge by floodwaters in Hindsville, the Madison County Sheriff's Office said.
In northwest Arkansas, a 10-year-old girl drowned in Springdale and the body of a woman who disappeared riding an inner tube on Saturday was found in a creek in Eureka Springs. Also, a 65-year-old woman in DeWitt in the eastern part of the state was struck and killed in her home by a falling tree, officials said.
In Texas, search teams were going door to door on Sunday after the tornadoes the day before flattened homes, uprooted trees and flipped several pick-up trucks at a Dodge dealership in Canton.
"It is heartbreaking and upsetting to say the least," Canton mayor Lou Ann Everett told reporters at a news conference on Sunday morning.
The storms cut a path of destruction 35 miles long and 15 miles wide in Van Zandt County, Everett said. The largely rural area is about 50 miles east of Dallas.
The National Weather Service found evidence of four tornadoes with one twister possibly on the ground for 50 miles.
The first reports of tornadoes came about 4.45pm on Saturday, but emergency crews were hampered by continuing severe weather, said Judge Don Kirkpatrick, the chief executive for Van Zandt County.
"We'd be out there working and get a report of another tornado on the ground," he said.
The storms rolled through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday with strong winds causing isolated pockets of damage. In Durant in central Mississippi on person died in the storms.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency did not give details.
Alexa Haik went to bed on Saturday night expecting just rain, but heard the sirens on Sunday morning and turned on the television to see the tornado warning. She rounded up her pets and hid in a hallway with her family, then was stunned to emerge to trees down all in her neighbourhood in Clinton, Mississippi, about 20 miles west of Jackson.
A trip up the road showed how isolated the worst of the storms were. "I really thought when we got out of our neighbourhood, there would be damage everywhere. But our little subdivision was the only one hit," Ms Haik said.
Near Clever in south-western Missouri, a man tried to save his 72-year-old wife from floodwaters that swept away their vehicle on Saturday, but her body was found when the water receded, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
A second death from weekend flooding was announced on Sunday by Missouri Governor Eric Greitens but he did not release any details about the victim or the circumstances of the death.
Severe storms that have swept across parts of the US are being blamed for at least six deaths.
In Texas, at least four people were killed in a series of tornadoes that left a trail of overturned vehicles, mangled trees and damaged homes. Rains killed at least one person in Missouri.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said a 72-year-old woman drowned despite her husband's efforts to save her as their vehicle was swept away by rushing waters on Saturday near Clever in south-west Missouri.
In Arkansas, one women died after a tree fell on her home. Numerous roads were closed after more than three inches of rain fell in some areas.
Canton Mayor Lou Ann Everett said multiple tornadoes that began on Saturday afternoon left "heartbreaking and upsetting" destruction over an area 35 miles long and 15 miles wide.
A Van Zandt County official said search teams were going door to door are dealing with gas leaks and downed power lines and trees.
ETMC Regional Health Care Systems spokeswoman Rebecca Berkley said 56 people have been treated at three area hospitals. Six remained in hospital on Sunday, two of those in a critical condition.
AP
