Tornadoes rip though states, killing 20

PICHER, Okla., May 11 (UPI) -- At least 20 people were killed this weekend when tornadoes and intense storms ripped through portions of the U.S. Midwest and Southeast, officials say.

Search and rescue teams reported seven deaths in Ottawa County, Okla., 10 in Racine, Mo., one in Jasper County, Mo., and one near Purdy in Barry County, Mo., CNN reported Sunday.

More people may be dead in Missouri, said Susie Stonner, spokeswoman with the State Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City, Mo.

"It's dark and it was over a wide area. Some of the houses have been completely destroyed. There's a possibility there will be additional people," she said.

A tornado ripped through Picher, Okla., about 6 p.m. Saturday, damaging several buildings, killing at least seven people and wounding about 150 others.

"It looks like a war zone. Some homes have fallen in, some homes have lost roofs, and some are now just slabs," said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

About 3,000 people are without electricity, mostly in the Tulsa and McAlester areas of Oklahoma, emergency officials reported.

Lisa Janek of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said storms in the town of Dublin killed one person, while the town of Kite was completely destroyed by powerful storms and tornadoes, CNN reported.

"The report I am getting is the whole town is gone," Janek said of Kite, home to early 200 residents. "I have worked in emergency management for eight years and I never received a report like that before."

CNN said in significant portions of both Georgia and Oklahoma, thousands of residents were without electricity.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International