A deadly tornado outbreak ripped through Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi overnight Friday, leaving destruction, power outages and tragic loss in its wake.

The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management said 16 counties had reported damage from the storms on March 14.

Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

Large and destructive tornadoes are carving paths of destruction across the South for the second day in a row.

The weather cut a swathe of destruction across an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people.