A Texas mayor said it was « heartbreaking and upsetting to say the least ».
At least 14 people have been killed in severe storms rolling across the US.
Tornadoes hit several small towns in East Texas, killing four people. Five people were killed by flooding and winds in Arkansas, including a fire chief who was struck by a vehicle while working during the storm.
Two deaths were reported in Missouri, including a woman who drowned after rushing water swept away a car. One of two deaths in Mississippi included a seven-year-old who died by electric shock and a two-year-old girl died in Tennessee after being struck by a football goal post thrown by heavy winds.
In Arkansas, Cove Creek/Pearson Fire Chief Doug Decker died shortly before 4am on Sunday after being struck by a vehicle while checking water levels near Quitman.
A two-year-old girl in Tennessee died after being struck by a heavy, metal social goal post that was blown over by high winds, The Metro Nashville Police Department posted on its Twitter page.
Melanie Espinoza Rodriguez was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to a second post from the department. Middle Tennessee was hit by a strong line of storms that knocked down trees and power lines.
Rescuers in north-west Arkansas continued to look for an 18-month-old girl and a four-year-old boy who were in a vehicle swept off a bridge by flood waters in Hindsville.
In north-west Arkansas, a 10-year-old girl drowned in Springdale and the body of a woman who disappeared riding an inner tube was found in Eureka Springs. A 65-year-old woman in DeWitt was killed by a falling tree.
In Texas, search teams were going door to door after the tornadoes the day before flattened homes, uprooted trees and flipped pick-up trucks at a Dodge dealership in Canton.
“It is heartbreaking and upsetting to say the least, ” Canton mayor Lou Ann Everett said.
The storms cut a path of destruction 35 miles long and 15 miles wide in Van Zandt County, Ms Everett said. The largely rural area is about 50 miles east of Dallas.
The National Weather Service found evidence of four tornadoes with one twister possibly on the ground for 50 miles.
The first reports of tornadoes came about 4.45pm on Saturday, but emergency crews were hampered by continuing severe weather.
The storms rolled through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday with strong winds causing isolated pockets of damage. In Durant in central Mississippi one person died in the storms.
Later the agency reported the death of a child from Rankin County, 20 miles east of Jackson, who died from electric shock in flood waters. The Rankin County Sherriff’s Department reported that a seven-year-old boy had unplugged an electric golf cart and dropped the cord in water on the ground and was shocked.
