Multiple damaging tornadoes were reported across Mississippi on Saturday as the Deep South was the target of a severe weather outbreak. While the coincidence is unusual, scientist

Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the U.S., wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that killed at least 18 people as more severe weather was expected late Saturday.

The threat of violent tornadoes in parts of the U.S. proved deadly as well as destructive as whipping winds moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, with at least 17 people killed and scores of homes decimated.