Deaths after tornadoes hit Mississippi

Storms in the US state of Mississippi have left at least 12 people,
including children, dead with several people still missing

Governor Haley Barbour said there was "utter obliteration" in Yazoo
County, where three died, and he declared a state of emergency in 17
counties.

A church in Yazoo City was flattened and houses reduced to rubble.

Tornadoes have also been hit the nearby states of Louisiana, Arkansas
and Alabama, with the severe weather reported to be moving eastwards.

Powerlines have been blown down and road are blocked by fallen trees,
after a tornado almost a mile (1.6 km) wide, blew through the centre of
the state.

Tree damage along I-55 south of Durant, Miss
The bad weather is blowing eastwards

The storms brought heavy rain to some areas.

Five people died in Choctaw County, two of them children, four in Yazoo
County and one in Holmes County.

Four injured people were flown by helicopter from Yazoo County to
hospital in the state capital, Jackson, for treatment.

"It sounded like a train coming down that road," said Malcolm Gordon,
63, who hid in a cupboard with his wife, Diane, while the tornado took
the roof off his house.

"I'll just bulldoze what's left and start over," he said.

"When I got up, the windows started blowing out and it blew me from one
room to the next room, and I grabbed my son, we got on the floor, and
next thing I know the roof come off, all the windows were blowed out,
the house started flooding with water," said Kenneth Gurley of Warren
County.

"There are lots of places where a person can get blown off the road,"
said Gov Barbour.

"And so we've got a lot of volunteers, as well as professional people
from the local fire departments who are just trying to run through there
and look everywhere to make sure we don't miss anybody."

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