More killed as tornadoes rip through southern United States

The deaths of two people in MS who had been missing since Wednesday were reported Saturday, bringing that state’s weather-related fatality toll to 10.

DALLAS-Tornadoes swept through the Dallas area leaving at least eight people dead and substantial damage either from the storm or related traffic accidents.

The twisters left major damage behind in the towns of Garland, Blue Ridge and Copeville, among others. At least 40 homes have been destroyed, officials from the Ellis County Emergency Management Agency said.

“By Sunday morning, the snow, sleet and freezing rain will expand northeast across the southern Plains”, the National Weather Service said. The freakish winter weather is expected to bring…

One large tornado reportedly touched land in MS and tore a path more than 100 miles long to Tennessee. Tornadoes are possible, and residents are asked to remain alert.

The storm blew the roofs off homes and left vehicles mangled or turned upside down, churches damaged, power lines down, natural gas lines burst, trees toppled and debris strewn across neighborhoods.

Officer Joe Harn, a Garland police spokesman, said Saturday night the four were killed in accidents that occurred during a massive storm, but it’s unclear if all four were in the same vehicle or how they died.

A statement from the governor’s office said that about 190 roads across Alabama were closed due to flooding. He said the primary job was to make sure people got found and had a safe place to stay on Saturday night.

Four people in the city were taken to hospital with minor injuries, according to Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Coker.

Many roads and homes are flooded, Monroe County Sheriff Cecil Cantrell said.

Rowlett City Manager Brian Funderburk says 23 people were injured and “huge amounts of damage” from a tornado is widespread but concentrated in southern part of the city.

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

A spokesman for the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Centre told NBC News that 25 tornadoes have hit the US’s south since Wednesday.

The blizzard conditions could affect people from New Mexico toward the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles, with 1.2 million under a blizzard warning. Crews chipped away at the power failures later in the evening, but more than 15,000 customers still lacked electricity early Sunday morning.

The number of tornadoes and the full extent of their damage will not become clear until daylight on Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Anthony Bain told the Associated Press. “It’s going to be a heavy band that will linger for some time; it might hamper search and rescue”.