Business owners look over damage after a tornado hit the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, early yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Workers searched for survivors yesterday in the rubble left by a wave of tornadoes that ripped through the south-central United States late on Sunday and early yesterday, killing at least 18 people in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa.

Arkansas was the area that was the hardest hit, with at least 16 people dead.

Neighbourhoods were torn apart in central Faulkner County in the storm system that produced that first fatalities of this year’s US tornado season, authorities said.

“It was a devastating tornado,” Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe told a news conference, saying the main focus was on finding and rescuing victims.

Strong winds wrenched houses off their foundations and flipped cars on top of the rubble in the town of Vilonia in Faulkner County.

Nine of the victims in the county lived on the same street in Vilonia, where at least 60 homes were destroyed, local broadcaster Kark TV reported. Medical officials reported at least 100 people in Arkansas were injured.

“It’s so heartbreaking. I’ve never seen destruction like this before,” US Representative Tim Griffin told reporters after touring Vilonia. “I saw a Dr Seuss book in the rubble. I saw a Spider-Man shirt in the rubble. It just breaks your heart.”

It’s so heartbreaking – I’ve never seen destruction like this before

At dawn, heavy equipment was used in Vilonia and nearby Mayflower to clear debris off the streets or to load rubble on to trucks for removal.

“We could feel the house lifting up and swirling around. We were praying. The Lord kept us all safe,” Sean Sellman, a resident of Vilonia, told KTHV-TV.

A tornado that hit the east side of Mayflower on Sunday evening killed at least one person, tore up trees and brought down power lines, making it difficult for emergency personnel to find stricken areas in the dark, officials said.

More than 10,000 people were without power in Arkansas yesterday. One person was killed in neighbouring Oklahoma and another in Iowa, state authorities said.