Four people have been killed and up to 40 injured when a tornado ripped through a boy scout camp in the US state of Iowa.
More than 120 scouts and leaders were staying at the Little Sioux camp near Des Moines when the tornado struck.
They had been attending the annual Pohuk Pride week-long junior leader training event at the 1,800-acre ranch, which has four cabin shelters, a 15-acre lake, a rifle range and six hiking trails.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver said: "We are profoundly saddened...our heart goes out to all of the families and the children affected by this horrific tragedy."
At least two tornado warnings were issued for the Little Sioux area before the twister struck. However, state officials said they did not know if there were any warning sirens operating at the camp.
The twister was one of more than 30 moving across eastern Kansas into Nebraska, Iowa and into Minnesota which were accompanied by baseball-sized hail and vicious winds, and came in addition to rampant flooding that has forced hundreds from their homes in Iowa.
In Kansas, at least two people died after tornadoes ripped through neighbour hoods in in the northeastern part of that state. One woman was found dead in the yard outside her home in Chapman and a man was later found dead outside a mobile home in Soldier.
The Kansas twisters injured dozens and destroyed at least 60 homes, authorities said.
Mr Culver has declared 54 of Iowa's 99 counties disaster areas due to damage from the flooding and tornadoes.
And the violent weather is continuing in the region, with tornado watches issued for areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.
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