Severe storms kill 14, injure dozens in US

Powerful storms and tornadoes have slammed into parts of the Southern and Midwestern United States, leaving at least 14 people dead and about 40 others injured.

More than 20 tornadoes were reported on Wednesday in the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said Thursday.

The threat of severe weather just before the Christmas holiday is unusual, but not unprecedented, said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center.

A 7-year-old boy was killed and an additional 15 people were injured in Holly Springs, Mississippi after a large tornado struck a 100-mile (160-km) stretch of northern Mississippi Wednesday afternoon.

Also killed were a husband and wife, both in their 60s, and another man in his 60s, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi.

An 18-year-old woman was also killed and a toddler was injured in Atkins, Arkansas when a tree crashed into her house after being uprooted by powerful winds during the storm.

“I’m looking at some horrific damage right now,” said Bill Luckett, the mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi. “Sheet metal is wrapped around trees; there are overturned airplanes; a building is just destroyed.”

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