US clears up after tornadoes

It was the worst storm for a decade

Clear-up efforts are under way in the central United States, after a series of deadly tornadoes tore across Missouri, Tennessee and Kansas, killing at least 38 people.

Houses were blown apart and trees and power lines uprooted as the tornadoes carved a trail of destruction about 400 metres (quarter of a mile) wide in some places.

Eyewitnesses have e-mailed BBC News Online with their accounts of the tornadoes which bent metal pylons "like toothpicks".

Several counties have been declared disaster areas and the National Guard has been called in to help.

Forecasters are warning that recovery efforts could be hampered by continuing bad weather on Monday and Tuesday as the storm system moves slowly south and eastwards.

Officials in Missouri said at least 14 people had been killed there; in Tennessee 11 were reported dead and in Kansas the storms were blamed for the deaths of seven people.

In Pierce City, Missouri - a small town of just over 1,000 people - barely a home or business was left untouched.

The whole town has been destroyed pretty much

Michael Spencer
Red Cross official, Pierce City

Tales of horror

Scenes of destruction

Several people who tried to take shelter in a National Guard armoury in the town are still reported missing.

"I've never been in anything like this. It was absolutely terrible," said Julie Johnson, who rode out the storm in the armoury's bathroom.

Everyone in Pierce City has been affected, local Red Cross official Michael Spencer told BBC News Online.

"But the whole community is pulling together. There are hundreds of people lined up here now wanting to help - people are bringing food, some are helping with the rescue effort."

Buck Katt, deputy director of Missouri's emergency management services, said they were still assessing the situation but there had been significant damage in parts of the state.

"We have not experienced a storm like that for at least a decade," he told BBC News Online.

Weather warning

The tornadoes which hit on Sunday were spawned by a huge weather system that rolled across the Mid-West and parts of the southern US. Arkansas, South Dakota and Nebraska were also affected.

Some of the worst-hit areas were on the Kansas and Missouri border.

What causes a tornado?

American Red Cross officials have been erecting emergency shelters and providing hot meals for those made homeless by the storms.

And as the efforts to help those affected are stepped up, officials are warning people in other states to prepare for the worst.

Red Cross spokeswoman Dana Allen told BBC News Online they were urging people in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and North and South Carolina to work out the safest place to take shelter.

"We are giving them information they might need to make sure their homes are safe. We suggest they build a disaster supply kit - which would include food and water supplies, medication and a first aid kit - anything you would need if you were trapped in your home," she said.

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