A tornado sweeping across the United States left at least seven people dead in North Carolina, bring the death toll from extreme weather across the South to at least 10 people. Officials searching for victims amid the wreckage of a mobile home park in the state cautioned that death toll still could rise. Dozens of homes were destroyed when the tornado struck the Cape Fear River community. Searches found seven bodies in the wreckage by midday, and “that number very well may go up,” said County Commissioner Chairman Kip Godwin, the designated spokesman for the county's emergency management office. “When a tornado hits a mobile home, it's probably much more devastating,” Godwin said. “Most of these homes were blown off their foundations and are now just piles of debris.” Two other people died in North Carolina car crashes amid strong wind and pounding rain early Thursday, and another person died Wednesday when a tornado struck his home in Louisiana as the storms began their path of destruction across the South. Weather forecasters expect the tornadoes to move north, passing through Virginia and into Washington D.C. Extreme weather warnings, including flash flood warnings have been issued for the region.
