“If you see the destruction that is here, even though we’ve lost some lives, there are many lives that was saved because of the storm warnings.”
Vilonia was struck three years ago by a tornado that took almost the same path, but Sunday’s twister was “a lot worse,” McNew said.
Twisters also devastated large sections of the town of Mayflower, population 2,300, just northwest of the Arkansas state capital, Little Rock.
The National Weather Service warned that some of the new group of tornadoes could be “intense,” with “very large hail and damaging straight line winds” also likely.
Forecasters warned the twisters would continue to threaten the central and southern United States through Tuesday, and said powerful thunderstorms and severe flooding were also possible.
Speaking in the Philippine capital Manila during an Asian tour, US President Barack Obama offered condolences and promised federal government aid.
“I want everybody to know that your country will be there to help you recover and rebuild as long as it takes,” he said.
The White House said Obama called Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to offer federal assistance.
Sunday’s tornado crushed large trucks like empty cans, homes were violently ripped in half, and entire residential blocks were reduced to rubble.
Some homes were uprooted from their foundations. In Iowa, the tornado also dumped heavy rain, snapped trees and lifted the roof off a medical centre in the town of Oskaloosa.
Dozens of homes were also reported destroyed in nearby Kansas, although officials so far have reported no fatalities there.
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