Tornadoes and thunderstorms have ravaged several southern US states, and claimed at least 52 lives in the process.
More than 150 others have been injured in what have been the deadliest such storms in nine years.
Hardest hit were Tennessee - where 28 people died - Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama.
There were unconfirmed reports of 69 tornadoes swirling across those states and northward into Indiana, according to the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
In Arkansas almost 500 homes and businesses were destroyed or badly damaged.
Power outages have been widespread. One tornado struck the Columbia Gulf Transmission company in Hartsville, Tennessee, and set off a natural gas fire.
Kentucky National Guard spokesman David Altom said about 50 soldiers were deployed and others on stand-by.
"The mission right now is to protect the damaged homes from looting," he said.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear described a trail of devastation in his state seen from the air.
"In the path of it there is nothing left and on either side of it things are standing just like nothing has happened. It's an amazing picture to see."
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
Computer/Media Player Settings
This video requires a DRM enabled video player. We have detected that your video player is not currently setup to play this type of content.
For further infomation please visit the video player diagnostic page by clicking the button below.
Click here
Security update required to watch video:
There was an error downloading the security licence required to watch video on itv.com.
Sorry, there has been an error playing this video. Please try again later.
Sorry, videos can only be viewed if you are in the UK.
