Multiple tornadoes have swept through Mississippi, killing one person and injuring nearly two dozen more, officials said.
State emergency workers are working with counties to assess the damage from storms in which high temperatures and hail in some areas accompanied tornadoes.
The death and injuries were reported by officials in eastern Mississippi’s Jasper County.
The small rural town of Louin bore the brunt of the damage. Drone footage and photos showed wide expanses of debris-covered terrain, wrecked homes and mangled trees. At least one person was lifted from the wreckage in a stretcher.
Most of the people injured in Jasper County, including the person who died, were taken to the South Central Regional Medical Centre in Laurel, said Becky Collins, a spokeswoman for the facility.
About 20 people had bruises and cuts. Most were in stable condition on Monday morning.
Eric Carpenter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said an unseasonably strong jet stream blew through the area. A tornado emerged near Louin before travelling at least seven miles south to Bay Springs.
Tornadoes typically hit Mississippi in early to mid-spring. Mr Carpenter called the timing of the tornadoes, along with persistent thunder and hail as well as high temperatures, “a very unusual situation”.
“This is a whole different game here,” he said. “What we would typically see in March and April, we’re seeing in June.”
On March 24, a vicious tornado carved a path of destruction through parts of western and northern Mississippi, killing at least 26 people and damaging thousands of homes.
Some towns in the rural, poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta face a daunting task to rebuild.
State governor Tate Reeves said Monday’s tornadoes also struck Rankin County, which borders the capital city of Jackson.
Emergency crews were doing search and rescue missions and damage assessments, deploying drones in some areas because they were impossible to reach by vehicle due to downed power lines.
In a Monday morning news release, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said more than 49,000 homes in central Mississippi were without power.
Tens of thousands of people in Hinds County, the most populous area of the state, were still without power on Monday morning after high winds pounded the state early on Friday.
Mr Reeves said the state is opening command centres and shelters for those displaced by the severe weather.
