Deadly tornados kill 27 in US

Utility workers try to restore electricity to a tornado-damaged section of town on Friday in Harrisburg, Illinois, USA. Photo: AFP

Rescue workers yesterday searched for survivors after scores of tornadoes tore across the central United States, killing at least 27 people and wiping out whole communities.
Trucks and trees were tossed aside like playthings Friday as deadly funnel clouds descended on five states.
The images were surreal: a school bus smashed through the wall of a house, trucks thrown into lakes, solid brick homes reduced to rubble and wooden ones smashed into kindling, mobile homes flipped like tin cans.
The death toll in Indiana reached 13 late Friday, officials said. Meanwhile, the Kentucky Department of Public Health has confirmed a total of 12 fatalities.
A total of 13 tornadoes passed through that state on Friday, according to the Kentucky Emergency Management agency.
Two more deaths were reported by authorities in the neighboring state of Ohio.
The latest wave of storms comes after a string of twisters killed 13 earlier in the week.
In 2011, some 545 people were killed by tornadoes, which was the deadliest tornado season in the US since 1936.