A tornado outbreak has devastated parts of Texas, killing at least six people, injuring dozens more and destroying or damaging scores of homes.
The worst-hit area was Granbury, where authorities say a storm tore through two neighbourhoods.
Sheriff Roger Deeds reported a number of deaths, adding: “Some were found in houses, some were found around houses.”
He added that the total could climb as crews pick through the rubble of shattered homes.
About 50 people were taken to a hospital in the town, where 14 were admitted for treatment of injuries and two were transferred to a hospital in Fort Worth, about 56km away.
As many as 100 people were injured, said Matt Zavadsky, spokesman for MedStar Mobile Healthcare. His company sent three ambulances and a medical bus from its Fort Worth base to Granbury.
Mr Deeds said officials were trying to account for 14 people, but it was not clear if they were missing or were away from the area for other reasons.
Hardest hit were two neighbourhoods in the southern end of the town of about 8,000 residents about 100km south west of Dallas.
The same storm spawned another tornado that witnesses told the National Weather Service was a mile wide. That twister tore through the southwestern quadrant of Cleburne, a courthouse city of about 30,000 residents about 40km south east of Granbury.
There were no reports of deaths in that storm, Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said, “but we do have the potential for some injuries”.
Mr Cain had no estimate on the number of homes damaged, but he said he expected the number to soar into the dozens based on his inspection of damage ranging from roof damage to total destruction. – (PA)