DHAKA: Deadly twisters lashed Alabama and Mississippi on Monday as the South took a violent second-day assault from spring storms.

Seven people were reported killed in Mississippi and as many as six were reported killed in Alabama, although only two had been confirmed and the total was uncertain Monday night. Two deaths in Tennessee were confirmed after a tornado touched down in there Monday night.

The storms come one day after tornadoes killed 17 people across central and southern parts of the nation. Most of Sunday's deaths were in Arkansas, with one death each in Oklahoma and Iowa.

Athens, Ala., spokeswoman Holly Hollman said the Limestone County sheriff's department reported two deaths from a twister that hit a mobile home park west of the town. Another four people were killed from a twister southeast of town, county commissioner Bill Latimer told the Associated Press. State emergency management officials said they did not have confirmation of the deaths.

At least two people died when a powerful, 190 m.p.h. tornado slammed into Lincoln County, The Tennessean reports. Several homes were destroyed and elementary schools were damaged.

In Mississippi, seven deaths have been reported, emergency officials told reporters at a press conference with Gov. Phil Bryant. Mississippi Director of Health Protection said officials are still awaiting confirmation of those deaths from coroners.

At least two restaurants were destroyed and a motel suffered extensive damage, the media reported.

A medical center in Louisville, Miss., suffered wind damage, with two walls knocked down, the Clarion-Ledger reported.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said the death toll is likely to rise as rescue teams’ work through the hardest-hit areas.

That includes at least 10 people were killed in the small central Arkansas community of Vilonia, north of Little Rock, by a huge twister that ripped homes from foundations and flipped cars.

Emergency officials in Iowa said at least one person was killed by a twister in Keokuk County.

A twister also hit Baxter Springs, Kan., injured at least 25 people and destroying 60 to 70 homes and 20 to 25 businesses in the city of roughly 4,200 residents, according to Cherokee County, Kan., emergency manager Jason Allison.

At a news conference in the Philippines, President Obama sent his condolences to those affected by the tornado and promised that the federal government would help in the recovery.

Source: Chillicothegazette.com

BDST: 1411 HRS, APR 29, 2014