19 killed as tornadoes rip through US

Houston: At least 19 people, including two children, have been killed in powerful storms that ravaged the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas in the central US, destroying homes and plunging thousands into darkness amid rising temperatures.

Seven fatalities were reported in Cooke County in Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado on Saturday night ripped through a rural area near a mobile home park, officials said. "It's just a trail of debris left. The devastation is pretty severe," Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington said.