Washington: Powerful storms have swept across the south of the United States after unleashing suspected tornadoes and flooding that killed at least eight people, injured dozens and flattened much of a Texas town. Three children were among the dead.

Nearly 90,000 customers were without electricity in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia as of midday Sunday, according to www.poweroutage.us as the severe weather left a trail of destruction.

Two children were killed on a back road in East Texas when a pine tree fell onto the car near Pollok, southeast of Dallas.

The tree "flattened the car like a pancake," said Captain Alton Lenderman of the Angelina County Sheriff's Office. The children, ages 8 and 3, were dead at the scene, while both parents, who were in the front seat, escaped injury, he said. </s> Four killed in Alabama as severe storms hit US South

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Alabama's governor said four people were killed in a building in an area hit by severe weather as a heavy storm system pounded the U.S. South with rain, hail and strong winds on Monday.

Governor Robert Bentley said in a message on Twitter the four fatalities occurred in a building in the area of Rehobeth, in southeast Alabama just outside the city of Dothan.

The federal Storm Prediction Center listed the incident on its website as a possible tornado. Dothan-based television station WTVY said in a report citing local officials the four people were killed inside a home that was struck by a falling tree and power lines.

Emergency officials in the area declined to comment immediately.

Strong winds snapped power lines in several U.S. states along the Gulf of Mexico coast on Monday, with tornadoes reportedly touching down in Mississippi.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado watches stretching from Louisiana to Florida and flash flood watches for several states in that area.

"All severe hazards will be possible including damaging winds and tornadoes, especially across portions of southeast Louisiana and central and southern Mississippi through southern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle," the NWS said.

There were reports of tornadoes touching down in three places in Mississippi, the service said.

"There has been no widespread damage," said Ray Coleman, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, which said there were nearly 20,000 customers without electricity in the state due to the storm system.

High winds also knocked down power lines and trees in Texas, including in the Houston area, as well as in Louisiana, the NWS said. Hail fell in several states, including Alabama and Arkansas, it said.

More than 11,000 customers were without power on Monday evening in Texas and Louisiana because of the storm, utility companies reported.

The storms had limited impact on air travel, with 32 flights canceled at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport, one of the country's busiest, by 6 p.m. (midnight GMT), according to tracking firm flightaware.com. (Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles Editing by David Gregorio and Paul Tait) </s> • At least three children have been killed from the tornadoes and severe weather in the South.
• At least 18 tornadoes have been reported across the US South.
• All told, at least six people are dead and dozens have been injured.

Tornados have ripped through the US South, killing at least three children, according to Reuters.

Two of the deaths occurred in Texas while a third happened in Louisiana.

At least 18 tornadoes have been reported over the weekend across the US South, from Texas to Georgia. Storms are scheduled to move up along the East Coast, impacting over 100 million people. Reuters also reported almost 6,000 flights have been cancelled or delayed, with Chicago and Charlotte being the airports most impacted.

Here are some photos of the devastation left behind by the tornadoes thus far:

Tornadoes and severe weather have impacted people in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia.

Two siblings, ages 3 and 8, were killed when a tree fell on their car.

A 13-year-old boy drowned after falling into a drainage ditch that was full of flash floodwaters in Louisiana.

All told, at least six people have died from the severe weather and dozens have been injured. </s> The National Weather Service says at least nine tornadoes were formed during a two-day period of severe weather in eastern Texas and Louisiana.

Meteorologist Davyon Hill says seven tornadoes were part of the same parent storm that started in San Augustine, Texas, on Wednesday evening and stretched into northern Louisiana Thursday morning.

Separately, two tornados also touched down in Louisiana — one north of Shreveport and another near Jena.

The city of Ruston in northern Louisiana appeared to get the brunt of the bad weather. An EF3 tornado touched down there, ripping off roofs of buildings and homes, and severely damaging the sports facilities of Louisiana Tech University.

Two people in Ruston died when a tree fell onto their home Thursday. </s> CLOSE Violent storms produced flooding and tornadoes in parts of Texas and Louisiana. At least five people were killed by the severe weather. USA TODAY

Violent storms unleashed floods and tornadoes across Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving at least five people dead.

The threat for rough weather will continue Friday, the National Weather Service said. Severe thunderstorms are possible across the mid-Atlantic region, and strong winds and tornadoes are both possible in eastern portions of North Carolina and Virginia.

Two people were killed early Thursday in Ruston, in north-central Louisiana, after a tornado ripped through the town and the Louisiana Tech University campus around 2:30 a.m. local time.

"I've never seen it this bad in my 43 years. It's tragic, and it's going to be a while before we can get all this cleaned up," Lincoln Parish Sheriff Mike Stone said.

Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker confirmed the two fatalities.

"It's bad; real bad," Walker said. "We took a direct hit."

Late Thursday afternoon, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for the entire state due to the fierce storms.

The National Weather Service said the tornado was rated an EF-3, which means its wind speeds were in the 136 to 165 mph range.

Weather service hydrologist C. S. Ross says it appears the tornado cut a track over 130 miles from eastern Texas to the Louisiana-Arkansas border.

The same cluster of thunderstorms produced flooding and severe weather in Texas on Wednesday, the Weather Channel reported.

THE AFTERMATH - We're live over Ruston as we get our first view of tornado damage seen in the daylight over the region. These storms did kill at least two people as confirmed by the mayor earlier. pic.twitter.com/kAK5vIHcUT — WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) April 25, 2019

About 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth, a woman and two children were killed when the family's car was caught in rushing flood waters, authorities said. The incident occurred at about 6 a.m. in what's usually a small creek just outside Dublin.

The Weather Channel said the threat of severe weather, including possible large hail and tornadoes, will continue to move into the Southeast on Thursday night before shifting toward the mid-Atlantic on Friday.

A long-tracked supercell thunderstorm crossed from Deep East Texas into west-central Louisiana and into the ArkLaMiss overnight. We will be surveying along this swath over the next several days. At this time, we cannot confirm a tornado was on the ground along this entire path. pic.twitter.com/Ieuk3yUZBw — NWS Shreveport (@NWSShreveport) April 25, 2019

Thursday's opening of the New Orleans Jazz Fest was delayed because of the storms, the event organizers said. The PGA golf tournament in New Orleans was also delayed for several hours because of lightning.

Contributing: The Associated Press; The News-Star (Monroe, La.)

Storms smashed through Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, early on April 25, 2019. (Photo: News-Star)

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/25/tornadoes-killer-storms-leave-death-destruction-texas-louisiana/3573446002/ </s> Severe weather has struck parts of the southern United States, with apparent tornadoes causing damage in Texas and Louisiana. CBS News has confirmed five weather-related deaths in the two states.

The National Weather Service has issued tornado and severe thunderstorm watches for large portions of Louisiana and Mississippi as the storm moves east. "Severe thunderstorms capable of damaging winds, large hail, and a few tornadoes will be likely Thursday into Thursday night over the Deep South and northern Gulf Coast," the service said.

A tornado is seen in Bryan, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019 in this still image taken from a social media video April 25, 2019. Michael David Black via REUTERS

Three people — a mother and her two children — died in Erath County, Texas, early Wednesday when their car was swept away by what The Associated Press reported was flash flooding. Two people are also confirmed dead in the Louisiana city of Ruston after a tree fell on a home.

As of Wednesday morning, there were more than 15,000 power outages in Louisiana and more than 2,700 in Texas.

According to AccuWeather, heavy rain hit parts of western and northern Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some regions receiving up to 6 inches of rain. CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reported that a likely tornado touched down in the city of Bryan on Wednesday, causing damage to homes and buildings.

A tornado also appeared to hit Ruston, Louisiana, where Louisiana Tech University closed on Thursday. It said in a tweet that significant damage occurred as the storm traveled through its campus Wednesday evening.

Louisiana Tech University is closed today, April 25, as the result of a tornado. The storm traveled through the Ruston campus on Wednesday night, April 24. No students on campus were injured, — Louisiana Tech University (@LATech) April 25, 2019

The National Weather Service expects the severe weather and heavy rain storms to shift toward the mid-Atlantic and southeast Friday. </s> Three children and woman killed in storms in southern US

Three children and woman killed in storms in southern US

Several people have been killed in storms in the southern US

At least four people have reportedly been killed, including three children, in powerful storms that hit the southern United States, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall.

A three-year-old and an eight-year-old died after a tree fell onto the back of their family car in Lufkin, Texas, NBC News said. Their parents who were in the front were uninjured,

In West Monroe, Louisiana, a 13-year-old boy drowned in a drainage canal in what officials believe was a weather-related incident, the report said.

Streets had been closed in the city and a flood warning was issued for the area.

A fourth person who died in the storms was a woman killed by weather-related debris near Weches in Houston County, Texas.

In Franklin, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 140mph overturned mobile homes and damaged other properties, injuring about a dozen people.

NBC quoted Robertson County emergency management coordinator Billy Huggins as saying: "A strip of homes on the other side of town over here are completely gone, just gone, everything is gone."

He added: "To this small town of Franklin, it's very devastating. How we're going to get people help to restore their homes that don't have insurance or what have you, it's going to be pretty difficult.

"It's going to be a little difficult putting it back together, but we'll do it."

There was also a suspected tornado in Alto, Texas, which injured several people.

The storms were part of a large system that was moving through the southern US, knocking out power to thousands of homes and causing some flash flooding.

The US weather service said the system was expected to shift to the Ohio Valley and the southeast US on Sunday.

More than 140,000 customers remained without power in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas late on Saturday. </s> Officials confirm eight tornadoes touched down in Louisiana, Texas

The Nation Weather Service in Shreveport says eight confirmed tornadoes tore through Louisiana and Texas Wednesday and Thursday.

According to the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, damage from the eighth tornado hasn't been surveyed yet. Officials say six of the eight developed from the same "parent supercell" over a 150-mile track.

"The survey of the tornado SE of Marion in Union Parish is still ongoing," officials said. "Additional surveys are likely over the next few days."

A total of five people were killed in the tornadoes, two in Louisiana and three in Texas. </s> The National Weather Service has issued tornado and severe thunderstorm watches for large portions of Louisiana and Mississippi as the storm moves east. “Severe thunderstorms capable of damaging winds, large hail, and a few tornadoes will be likely Thursday into Thursday night over the Deep South and northern Gulf Coast,” the service said.

A tornado is seen in Bryan, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019 in this still image taken from a social media video on April 25, 2019. Michael David Black via REUTERS

Three people — a mother and her two children — died in Erath County, Texas, early on Wednesday when their car was swept away by what The Associated Press reported was flash flooding. Two people are also confirmed dead in the Louisiana city of Ruston after a tree fell on a home.

As of Wednesday morning, there were more than 15,000 power outages in Louisiana and more than 2,700 in Texas.

According to Accuweather, heavy rain hit parts of western and northern Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some regions receiving up to 6 inches of rain. CBS Houston affiliate KHOU reported that a likely tornado touched down in the city of Bryan on Wednesday, causing damage to homes and buildings.

A tornado also appeared to hit Ruston, Louisiana, where Louisiana Tech University closed on Thursday. It said in a tweet that significant damage occurred as the storm traveled through its campus Wednesday evening.

The National Weather Service expects the severe weather and heavy rain storms to shift toward the Mid Atlantic and Southeast on Friday.
Tornadoes spawned by severe weather in Texas and Louisiana cause at least five deaths and over 17,000 power outages.