In pictures: US tornadoes

A series of powerful tornadoes has whipped across eastern United States, leaving at least 30 people dead and dozens more homeless.

Dozens of tornadoes cut a swath through eastern America, battering towns and cities.

The band of storms stretched from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, with Alabama and Tennessee hardest hit.

The tornadoes flattened buildings, leaving a pile of debris where homes once stood.

For many victims, the loss was too great to bear.

Some people had a lucky escape - minutes after this cinema cleared, the building blew in.

The havoc wreaked by the storms literally turned people's lives upside down.

Fragile trailer parks and mobile homes were pulverised by winds of up to 140 mph (225 kph).

The ferocious storms uprooted trees and downed power lines, leaving thousands of people without electricity.

As the winds subsided, dazed residents emerged from shelters to inspect what remained of their homes.

Whole communities devastated by the storms are now faced with the long task of cleaning up and rebuilding what they have lost.