Tornadoes devastate US South, killing at least 280

At least 291 people were killed across six states - more than two-thirds of them in Alabama - as America's deadliest tornado outbreak in almost four decades pulverized entire neighborhoods.

Firefighters searched one splintered pile after another for survivors Thursday, combing the remains of houses and neighborhoods of large large cities that bore the half-mile (one kilometer)-wide scars the twisters left behind. (AP)