Terrifying helicopter footage shows a tornado rampaging across Oklahoma, with at least seven dead and dozens more injured across three southern states.
The two-minute clip - in which the cameraman yells - "it's huge, wow, unbelievable" - shows the killer storm cutting through the towns of Ardmore and Springer.
Tornadoes and other storms also swept through Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 7,000 people across Oklahoma and about 9,000 people in Onalaska, Texas, faced power outages.
Images in local media showed the devastation caused by the storms, including damage to homes, downing of power lines and twisted billboards.
A factory worker leaving Oklahoma's J&I Manufacturing was killed when a suspected tornado hit and his body was found four miles away, Marshall County Emergency Management Director Robert Chaney said.
Motorist Chad L. Weyant, 46, was also killed in the state's city of Madill when the same suspected twister blew his vehicle off a highway, reported Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Another man in Louisiana was also reportedly swept away in drainage water as he went to retrieve his rubbish bin, according to local media reports.
A total of nine suspected tornadoes ravaged southern Oklahoma, National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Zwink said.
Three people died and at least 20 were injured when the tornado touched down in Onalaska emergency officials said.
Onalaska is about 90 miles north of Houston.
Two people were also killed in southern Oklahoma, while Rapides Parish's Office reported that a woman died on a bridge in a storm in Woodworth, Louisiana.
Onalaska resident Charles Stephens told the Houston Chronicle that he and his wife were trapped for 45 minutes in their bathroom after a large pine tree fell through their roof.
While Louisiana State University tweeted all students were safe after storms caused damage on the Alexandria campus.
"On April 22, a tornado struck the city of Onalaska and other portions of Polk and San Jacinto counties, and possibly even far eastern Walker County," Houston's National Weather Service (NWS) said in a statement.
NWS said it was sending crews on Thursday morning to survey the path of the "Onalaska tornado".
Polk County, where Onalaska is located, issued a declaration of disaster on Wednesday night after the tornado hit.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that the state had deployed response teams and medical resources to provide assistance.
"The state will continue to do everything it can to support those affected by this severe weather," Abbott said in a statement.
Several homes were damaged in the storms and thousands were left without power.
The development comes as most Americans are under "stay-at-home" orders due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
SPC warned storms would continue in Alabama through Thursday, with Georgia and the Florida Panhandle also at risk.
Earlier this month, at least six people were killed as a strong storm system swept across the southern states of Mississippi and Louisiana, spinning off more than a dozen tornadoes and leaving behind a path of destruction.
