Devastating storms and tornadoes have ripped through southern states of the United States, killing at least 227 people.
The deadliest series of storms in nearly four decades in the US destroyed houses, flipped cars and uprooted trees and power lines.
131 people were killed in Alabama, the worst-hit state.
In Mississippi, 32 were killed, while died 30 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, 11 in Arkansas and seven in Virginia and three in Missouri.
Some of the worst devastation occurred yesterday in Alabama, where a massive 1.6km-wide tornado slammed into Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama, killing at least 15 people, including some students.
President Barack Obama will visit Alabama tomorrow to view the damage, the White House has confirmed.
Mr Obama had already declared a state of emergency for the state and ordered federal aid. He will meet the Alabama governor as well as local officials.
The storms also forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to close three nuclear reactors at a power plant in Alabama and knocked out 25 high-voltage power lines. Hundreds of thousands of homes have lost power.
‘We have never experienced such a major weather event in our history,’ said the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to 9 million people in seven states.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency and said he was deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen. Governors in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee also declared states of emergency.
‘We're in a search and rescue mode. We're making sure that those that may be out there that are trapped, that we have not found, we are trying to find them,’ Mr Bentley told CNN.
‘There has been massive devastation across northern Alabama. These long-track tornadoes really tear up the landscape as well as homes,’ he said.
The campus of the University of Alabama, home of the famous Crimson Tide football team, was not badly damaged but some students were killed off campus, Mr Bentley said.
The highest toll was in Franklin County in the rural northwest part of the state where 18 people died, according to figures from the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.
11 people died in Jefferson County, home to Birmingham, the state's largest city, the agency figures showed.
Authorities in Alabama and Mississippi said they expect the death toll to rise as emergency workers attempt rescues and recovery in the storm's wake.
