Deadly US Tornadoes And Storms Kill 250

Dozens of tornadoes have ripped through the south-east of the US, killing at least 250 people in six states, in the deadliest twister outbreak in nearly 40 years.

The storms and tornadoes struck across Alabama on Wednesday afternoon and evening, flattening whole neighbourhoods.

Friends down the street who did the same weren't so lucky - Mr Stewart said he pulled out the bodies of two neighbours whose home was ripped off its foundation.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Centre said it received 137 tornado reports up until Wednesday night.

US President Barack Obama will travel to Alabama after the state was ravaged by dozens of tornadoes that left at least 162 dead, the White House announced.

"While we may not know the extent of the damage for days, we will continue to monitor these severe storms across the country," Mr Obama said.

"[We] stand ready to continue to help the people of Alabama and all citizens affected by these storms."

In scenes reminiscent of the kind of destruction wrought by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the jumbled rubble of shattered homes and businesses lay entangled with crushed cars, uprooted trees and downed power lines.

At least 37 people were killed in the city of Tuscaloosa when the series of tornadoes and storms ripped from west to east across seven southern states in recent days.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said the tornado cut a seven-mile path of devastation through the city of 95,000 inhabitants.

"I don't know how anyone survived ... it's an amazing scene, there are parts of the city that I don't recognise," Mr Maddox said.

"The amount of damage I have seen is beyond a nightmare. "I don't know if I have seen anything as destructive and tragic as what I have seen in Tuscaloosa."

Meteorologist Josh Nagelberg of AccuWeather said: "This could be the worst tornado in Alabama's history."

Local residents, though hardened to storms that frequently roar through the South's humid regions, described as unbelievable the destruction inflicted by the mile-wide twister that struck on Wednesday.

"When I opened my eyes, I had no roof," Angela Smith, 22, said.

Her husband Clay Smith had pulled a body from a neighbour's home, she said.

Smith and others told tales of survival, and many people recorded the devastation on mobile phones and video cameras.

"I made it. I got in a closet, put a pillow over my face and held on for dear life because it started sucking me up," Mrs Smith said.

Most of the deaths were in Alabama, which has confirmed more than 130 fatalities, with others killed in Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky.

The storm system spread destruction from Texas to New York, where dozens of roads were flooded or washed out.

Over 1,400 National Guardsman were now involved in search and rescue as well as clearing storm-damaged areas.

Meteorologist Dave Imy, from the Storm Prediction Centre, said the deaths were the most since a tornado outbreak killed 315 people in 1974.

Two weeks ago at least 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma to North Carolina.