The death toll from a series of storms in the southern United States is expected to rise.
At least 45 people have been killed after three days of storms and tornadoes. More than 60 tornadoes ripped through North Carolina on Sunday, killing 21 people.
Governor Beverly Perdue said on the Today show on NBC TV that she had never seen anything like the devastation.
Flash floods and hail stones the size of grapefruit were reported.
Deaths from the tornadoes were also reported in the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia.
The BBC reports the tornadoes first struck Oklahoma on Thursday before sweeping eastward.
The storms moved out over the Atlantic on Sunday.
More than 240 tornadoes were reported over the three days, including 62 in North Carolina.
Most of North Carolina's 21 confirmed deaths occurred in two rural counties - 11 in Bertie and four in Bladen, about 70 miles (112 km) south of Raleigh.
In Bladen County, North Carolina, pigs and other animals were lifted into the sky by a tornado.
''It looked just like The Wizard of Oz,'' said Audrey McKoy who witnessed the event.
