JACKSON (Mississippi) • At least 11 people died after severe weather sweeping across the Southern US raked parts of Mississippi on Sunday, as the governor declared a state of emergency.

"This is not how anyone wants to celebrate Easter Sunday," Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said in a statement. "As we reflect on the death and resurrection on this Easter Sunday, we have faith that we will all rise together."

The National Weather Service in Jackson received several reports of tornadoes in the area, and at least two of them prompted "tornado emergency" warnings, which are issued only for "dangerous tornadoes that could produce catastrophic damage", said Mr John Moore III, a meteorologist with the service.

Officials will not know the tornadoes' exact paths or strengths until teams can be sent to survey the damage in the coming days, but radar did pick up a clue: debris lift.

"That's how we're able to tell that the tornadoes were actually on the ground," Mr Moore said. "We could see on radar it was lifting debris up into the atmosphere, some even 5,000 feet." Images posted on social media showed destroyed structures and lawns covered in debris.

The tornadoes were produced by severe thunderstorms, Mr Moore said, noting that more of these thunderstorms were moving through the same area and could produce additional tornadoes. "April is our primary severe weather season for Mississippi," he said. These types of storms are typically seen this time of the year, but "strong tornadoes anywhere are rare", he added.

Mr Bill Bunting, the chief of forecast operations at the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Centre, said severe weather was "an event that we had been anticipating for about five days".

"Unfortunately, it has played out like we feared," he said, adding: "All of the ingredients, all the conditions that we look for when we're forecasting tornadoes and strong tornadoes, were in place."

The storm brought torrential rains to East Texas overnight and into Sunday morning, the National Weather Service said.

By Sunday afternoon, a tornado had touched down in Monroe, in north-east Louisiana, destroying houses and damaging planes and structures at a regional airport.

Ms Sahmeka Deburr, 38, of Monroe said she heard what sounded like someone pounding the walls of her house just after noon. She thought her 12-year-old son was playing in the next room, but then she heard a window shatter.

"My son came into the room and said he was scared, and the lights went out," Ms Deburr said. "I woke everyone up and we ran into the bathroom and closed the door."

Ms Deburr said the tornado lasted only a few minutes. When she went outside, she saw her neighbours' roof on the ground, a flipped car and collapsed carports.

More strong tornadoes were likely through yesterday in parts of northern and central Alabama and south-central Tennessee, according to the Storm Prediction Centre.

NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE