Nine dead as tornadoes rip across central US

CHICAGO - At least nine people, including three young children, were killed as a powerful storm whipped up tornadoes across the central United States, officials said Friday.

The storm toppled trees and power lines, tore roofs off houses, and scattered tractor-trailers across highways.

Two-dozen tornadoes were reported in Mississippi and Alabama on Friday, a day after 15 twisters struck in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, the National Weather Service said.

Many of the deaths were in rural areas of Arkansas and most of the damage was caused by falling trees.

But the storm was powerful enough to lift a double-wide trailer into the air and toss it about 70 feet (21 meters), killing a 65-year-old woman and critically injuring a 70-year-old man inside.

"Three of the seven victims were seven years of age or younger," said Tommy Jackson, spokesman for the Arkansas department of emergency management.

"It's quite sad."

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