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At least one person has died and dozens of homes were left in ruins when tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
The powerful twister left several others injured and reduced a church, medical centre and school to rubble in one town alone.
Search and rescue teams have been sent to remote villages to look for survivors and assess the scale of the damage.
More than 100 people were killed by tornadoes in North America last year.
The violent extreme weather events occur when a rapidly rotating column of air stretching from the ground to the base of a cloud forms.
In the most serious cases they can generate wind speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.
The one death recorded so far after today’s incident came in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the southeastern corner of the state
Tornadoes were reported across several states and have destroyed dozens of homes (Picture: Twitter/@RCF_2008)
At least one person has died but there are fears the death toll could increase as more buildings are searched (Picture: The Paris News)
Officials and emergency services are still assessing the scale of the damage across a vast area (Picture: The Paris News)
Speaking to local media about the damage to one town, an official said: ‘There was total destruction on the south and east sides of Idabel.’
The same official said people were still trapped as of late Friday.
Keli Cain of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Office said at least three other counties were also hit by storms, with flash flooding in some areas.
The National Weather Service said tornadoes also were reported in Texas and Arkansas and a storm system was heading toward Louisiana.
In Texas, authorities in Lamar County said at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and 10 people were treated at one hospital, including two with critical injuries. No deaths were immediately reported.
Judge Brandon Bell, the county’s highest elected official, declared a disaster in the area, a step in getting federal assistance and funding.
Bell’s declaration said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.
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At least one person has been killed and dozens of homes have been destroyed.
