Arkansas, the death toll increased to seven today after Little Rock police spokesman Terry Hastings said a mother and her 8-year-old son were killed overnight by a tree that fell on their home. A sleeping infant in the next room was not harmed, Hastings said. Five other weather-related deaths were reported in central and western parts of the state early Friday.
A boy, 6, in Bald Knob, Ark., was killed when a tree fell on his home. In Garland County, a 24-year-old man and his 18-month-old daughter were killed after a tree struck by lightning fell on their mobile home.
"I didn't think it would happen to a friend of mine," said Kasey Neal, who lived nearby, "but now we're standing here talking about the loss of a friend and their little girl that they'll never get back."
In eastern Arkansas, Lardelah Anderson, 64, of the town of Colt, was killed when strong winds during a thunderstorm flipped her double-wide trailer onto its roof. Her 65-year-old husband was taken to the hospital with injuries.
Tornado Kills Sisters
Two elderly sisters were killed when a tornado struck Tushka, Okla., late Thursday night. The twister chewed a path a mile wide and nine miles long through the southeast Oklahoma town.
With only minutes before the storm hit, Randy Walker and his family scrambled into a storm shelter.
"That's when this tree fell," he said. "It sounded like an explosion."
The 100-year-old oak trapped him and his family for an hour and a half until neighbors used a chainsaw to free them. The Walkers found their home in ruins.