Emergency in Tornado-ravaged US state

Observers reported more than 60 tornados across North Carolina on Saturday but most of the state’s 21 confirmed deaths occurred in two rural counties.

A thunderstorm spawned a tornado that killed four people in south-eastern Bladen County and then kept dropping more twisters as it hopscotched more than 150 miles, eventually moving into Bertie County and killing 11 more. Some homes were swept from their foundations, others were demolished and cars flipped on tiny rural roads between Askewville and Colerain, county manager Zee Lamb said.

The violent weather began on Thursday in Oklahoma, where two people died, before cutting across the Deep South and hitting North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday. Authorities said seven people died in Arkansas, seven in Alabama, seven in Virginia and one in Mississippi. More than 240 tornados were reported, including 62 in North Carolina, but the National Weather Service said some may have been reported more than once.

Saturday was North Carolina’s deadliest day for tornados since 1984, when 22 twisters killed 42 people and injured hundreds. The state emergency management agency said it had reports of 23 fatalities from Saturday’s storms. North Carolina officials have tallied more than 130 serious injuries, 65 homes destroyed and another 600 significantly damaged - and the totals are expected to climb as damage assessments continue.

Governor Beverly Perdue declared a state of emergency and has been touring hard-hit areas, including central Raleigh. Downed trees blocked major routes in the bustling state capital city of 400,000, and three members of a family were killed at a nearby caravan park.

Tania Valle, 20, came back to the park to check on her mother to find a tree had split her mother’s mobile home in half, leaving just one room intact.