At least 11 killed in weekend tornadoes in North Texas

Tornadoes, flooding and severe storms lashed down in the southern United States, killing eight people in the latest incident of deadly weather and brining the death toll up to 26, officials and local media said.

Local broadcaster NBC5 reported that a fifth person also died in the city and that all five were involved in a traffic accident, according to Garland police spokesman Mike Hatfield.

Three other people died after severe weather swept through neighboring Collin County. Officials said the full extent of damage would not be known until Sunday morning.

Search and rescue efforts continued Sunday in the damaged areas east and northeast of Dallas.

Late on Saturday, one death was also reported in Alabama, while in Texas, four people were confirmed killed in vehicle accidents near the intersection of two major highways in Garland, east of Dallas.

National Weather Service forecast risky weather conditions would continue across the middle of the country through Sunday.

Flash floods hit Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee on Christmas Day.

Gas station hit by a tornado in Copeville, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015.

At least 52,000 Oncor electricity customers were without power across Texas at one point Saturday evening, with 30,000 of those in Dallas County alone.

Mr Thompson said weather systems as violent and varied as those pummelling the South were “more typical of something that you would see in the fall and in the spring” than in the middle of winter. That death toll went up by three since Saturday night. In total, about 600 structures were damaged by the twisters, officials said.

Into Sunday, severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are likely in eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, north-central Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, with more flooding possible, according to the National Weather Service.

The Red Cross said it was setting up shelters for people whose homes were damaged by the storm. These tornadoes flipped vehicles off bridges, reduced homes to rubble and reportedly led to a large fire at a Sunnyvale trailer park that was mostly destroyed.

Travellers at Dallas Love Field airport were warned to stay away from windows, and videos broadcast on Twitter showed theatergoers being evacuated from an AMC movie complex at NorthPark Center, a prominent mall.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said 56 injuries were reported.

Some parts of the Panhandle could see as many as 356 millimetres of snow, with sub-zero wind chills and accumulating ice.

Five tornados were reported in the Dallas area Saturday, causing widespread damage to homes and buildings. Rainfall amounts through Monday could range from 2 to 4 inches over southeast Arkansas and 5 to 8 inches across the northwest half of the state, forecasters said.