Tornadoes cause paths of destruction across southern, central US

A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning several tornadoes, killing at least eight people in Arkansas causing what a sheriff's office is calling a "mass casualty" situation. At least one person was killed in a small Oklahoma city and in North Carolina, an 11-month-old infant has died, two days after being injured in one of a series of tornadoes that lashed the state, authorities said.

Ottawa County Emergency Management director Joe Dan Morgan said Quapaw, Oklahoma, which has about 900 residents, was heavily damaged.

"Looks like about half of town got extensive damage as well as the fire department," Morgan said. After hitting Quapaw, the twister continued northward into Kansas, said Morgan.

Cherokee County, Kansas, sheriff's dispatcher Josh Harvey said the tornado that hit Baxter Springs injured several people and caused extensive damage, but that no deaths had been reported. He said first responders were going from house to house checking on the roughly 4,200 residents.

That twister was one of several that struck Sunday in a large swath of the Midwest and South affected by the storm system. Tornadoes also touched down in Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The storms follow a deadly outbreak of tornadoes and thunderstorms in November, when at least six people were killed and dozens injured.

A large tornado formed outside Little Rock, Arkansas, Sunday night and stayed on the ground as it moved northeastward for at least 30 miles, carving a destructive path through several suburbs. Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office reported of a “mass casualty situation” in Vilonia, Ark., after the tornado touched down. Television footage showed badly damaged buildings and vehicles.

Tornado watches — which means twisters could develop but aren't an immediate threat — were in effect for states as far west as New Mexico and as far east as Tennessee, and the system produced storms that were moving through the region in waves. Watches were also issued for Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.

Wire services