Powerful tornado strikes Virginia town, leaving at least 3 dead

Three people were killed when an afternoon tornado tore through a Waverly, a town in southeastern Virginia, the local CBS affiliate reported, citing state police.

Though the identities of those killed have not been released, officials said the deceased were a 2-year-old boy, 50-year-old man and a 26-year-old man.

The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for the area, and weather radars indicated a twister did indeed touch down.

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Afterwards, reporter Michael Campbell shared photos on social media that showed tattered houses, ripped-open trailers, downed trees and impassable roads.

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Motorists were advised to avoid traveling through the area, state police said, and emergency workers searched debris for residents who were reported missing. Roads were said to be impassible.

Another reporter's posted on Facebook showed the extent of the destruction. The town's main street was seen littered with debris.

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"It was only 3 minutes, but it was fast and ripped things apart," one witness told WTVR CBS 6 of the twister. 

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The system spawned at least seven tornadoes a day earlier along the Gulf Coast, damaging hundreds of homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. All told, the storm has killed at least 6 people so far as it's swept across the south.

A large tornado was reported on the ground near Henderson, North Carolina and, as evening came on, the storms rolled into the Washington, D.C., area, providing an impressive lightning show. 

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Forecasters warned the threat wasn't over and that more than 88 million people were at risk of seeing some sort of severe weather from the sprawling storm. In the Midwest, a powerful storm brought heavy snow and biting winds, leading to mass flight cancellations at Chicago airports and school closings in several states.

Some information in this report is provided by the Associated Press.