A tornado has ripped through the city of New Orleans, with at least one person confirmed dead and thousands left without power as a result of the horror storm.
Among the worst-hit areas were the Lower 9th Ward and parts of St Bernard Parish in the Louisiana state.
A woman passed away in the latter, while thousands of homes and businesses are without power.
Police believe there are several other people injured.
Other tornadoes spawned by the same storm system hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma, killing another woman about 60 miles north of Dallas, leaving 20 injured and causing huge damage.
The storm is expected to continue across the southern part of the US on Wednesday.
Footage of the tornado sweeping through New Orleans and Texas spread on social media late on Tuesday.
“There are houses that are missing,” said James Pohlmann, the sheriff of St. Bernard Parish.
“One landed in the middle of the street.”
“There is no safe shelter in a mobile home during a tornado,” the Weather Service in New Orleans tweeted..
“Seek shelter in a provided space within your mobile home community or seek shelter with friends or family who live nearby in a house or apartment. Last resort is to lie low and flat on the ground.”y
The storm front was bringing heavy rains of up to six inches and wind gusts of 45 miles per hour to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as National Weather Service forecasters warned that some 5 million people in the region could see dangerous weather on Tuesday.
"This is the typical time of the year for these events to unfold. Spring-time is prime for severe weather," said Roger Erickson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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