14 killed in US tornadoes

At least 14 people have been killed by tornadoes as a huge storm system swept across the central and southern United States.Thirteen of the victims were in several suburbs of Little Rock in Arkansas, officials said. One other person was killed in the town of Quapaw in the north-east of Oklahoma where officials said many buildings were badly damaged. Tornadoes also struck in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. President Barack Obama, on a trip to the Philippines, offered his deepest condolences to those affected and said federal emergency officials would be on the ground to help: "Your country will be there to help you recover and rebuild, as long as it takes." Most of the casualties were in suburbs west and north of Little Rock. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said seven people died in Faulkner County, five in Pulaski County and one in White County. Congressman Tim Griffin told Reuters news agency an "entire neighbourhood of 50 homes or so" in Faulkner County had been destroyed, with many "completely gone except the foundation", according to BBC.