Tornadoes whipped through southern US states this weekend, killing 45 people and turning whole towns into rubble-strewn ghost towns.
Homes and businesses across North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Georgia were left in tatters as dozens of tornadoes caused havoc from Thursday.
Power lines were cut, trees knocked over and roofs ripped from houses as terrified residents fled their towns.
The drama unfolded in Oklahoma on Thursday when a twister devastated the town of Tushka, killing two elderly residents. It went on to whip up many smaller tornadoes which then ripped through the other states before finally dying down on Sunday night in Virginia.
Some 23 people died in the North Carolina capital Raleigh alone. Its governor Beverly Perdue said the weekend had seen the worst tornado since the eighties.
Seven people were killed in Alabama including a woman and her two children inside a mobile home that was overturned. Seven more died in Arkansas, one in Mississippi and five in Virginia.
