People Dead After Violent Tornadoes Touch Down Across the US

Mulestor Johnson, 67, told the AP that a brutal storm tore his Holly Springs house from its foundation Wednesday. Trees rested atop several trucks on his property, and slabs of brick walls were strewn throughout his yard after the storm.

“We’re just there to salvage what we can salvage”, he said. The room’s walls had been blown away.

“I’m looking at some horrific damage right now”, the mayor said.

“If it is continuous it would be the longest track [December] tornado on record here in the Mid-South”, the Memphis office of the weather service said.

Another person was killed in Rhea County because of the unseasonably warm severe weather, which spawned deadly tornadoes that also killed seven people in MS and one in Arkansas.

Authorities say three of the six people killed in storms that rolled across Tennessee were found in a submerged vehicle.

Dozens more were injured, some seriously, Greg Flynn, spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday. Some of the injuries included amputations, he said.

A third tornado was confirmed Thursday night at the Wayne County state line in Tenn., according to the National Weather Service.

The storms caused damage to more than 100 homes, mobile homes and businesses. “Sheet metal is wrapped around trees; there are overturned airplanes; a building is just destroyed”.

Television images showed the tornado appeared to be on the ground for more than 10 minutes. Two were unaccounted for, according to Master Sgt. Ray Hall with the Mississippi Highway Patrol. The storm was bringing with it the risk of falling trees, downed power lines and flash flooding, officials said.

Benton County, Mississippi, resident Glenda Hunt says her house sustained heavy structural damage, but it’s still standing.

“If you go through these neighbourhoods, there are a lot of people very proud of what they’ve put out and they’ve got stuff everywhere – all these ornaments and deer and everything else”, Clements said.

Rusty Russell, a friend of Remus’, said Remus died protecting her sister, and shielded the child as the tree crashed down. Rescuers pulled the toddler safely from the home.

“It’s bad that this happened, especially at Christmas”, Jones said. More severe weather was expected in the state, along with parts of Alabama and Georgia.

The Storm Prediction Center received 24 tornado reports on Wednesday from IL to Alabama, an usually high number for one outbreak at his time of year.