Death toll climbs from Missouri, Oklahoma storms

PICHER, Oklahoma (CNN) -- At least 20 people were killed as tornadoes and severe weather swept the Midwest before rumbling into the Southeast on Sunday morning, according to emergency management agencies.

In the central Georgia town of Dublin, storms killed at least one person, Lisa Janak of the state Emergency Management Agency said.

The nearby town of Kite, home to about 200 residents, was destroyed, she said.

"The report I am getting is the whole town is gone," said Janak. "I have worked in emergency management for eight years and I never received a report like that before."

At least 80,000 residents were without electricity Sunday, mostly concentrated in the metro Atlanta and Macon areas, Georgia Power officials told The Associated Press. Watch how the storm slammed into Atlanta »

The storm system moved into the Southeast after leaving 20 people dead -- and homes and businesses in shambles -- across Missouri and Oklahoma.

"Mother's Day is a sad day for those who lost their lives in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia because of the tornadoes," President Bush told reporters outside his ranch in Texas."We send our prayers for those who lost their lives. The federal government will be moving hard to help."

He did not specify what support the federal government would send.

A tornado touched down about 5:42 p.m. in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, killing seven people and heavily damaging buildings in a 20-block area, the service said.

Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said about 150 people were injured in Picher, Oklahoma, and a number of people were missing.

She said the town enlisted the help of firefighters from surrounding areas who went house-to-house, sifting through rubble and searching for survivors. Watch residents survey mangled homes »

"It looks like a war zone," she said. "Some homes have fallen in, some homes have lost roofs, and some are now just slabs."

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher's victims include an infant, AP reported Sunday.

"We've seen homes that were completely leveled to the foundation," Brown said. "In a few of these homes you would have had to be subterranean to survive."

Ottawa County Emergency Manager Frank Geasland told AP that dozens of people were injured, some seriously.

"Trees are toppled over, ripped apart," he said. "There are cars thrown everywhere. It looks like a bomb went off, pretty much."

According to AP, other tornadoes were reported near McAlester and Haywood in Pittsburg County and in rural Pushmataha County, both in southeastern Oklahoma. Watch funnel clouds over Oklahoma »

Television footage showed destroyed outbuildings and damaged homes west of McAlester and near Haywood. At a glass plant southwest of McAlester, the storm apparently picked up a trailer and slammed it down on garbage bins.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt are scheduled to visit the area Sunday.

Weather officials said a tornado touched down about 6 p.m. between Seneca and Neosho near the Missouri-Kansas border. Numerous injuries were reported, and U.S. 60, which runs into Interstate 44, was closed because of debris covering the road.

Ten people were killed in Newton County, Missouri, according to emergency officials.

About 6:20 p.m., a person was killed when thunderstorms knocked a tree onto a mobile home about four miles east of Carthage, Missouri, the weather service reported. Less than an hour later, another person was killed when a tornado damaged a church and several homes and mobile homes in the area of Purdy, Missouri.

Authorities fear there may be additional casualties in Missouri, said Susie Stonner, spokeswoman with the state Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City, Missouri.

"It's dark and it was over a wide area. Some of the houses have been completely destroyed," she said. "There's a possibility there will be additional people."

In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado collapsed a home and a business, and there were reports of a few people trapped in buildings, weather service meteorologist John Robinson told AP.

The AP reported Central Park Elementary School in the northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville had roof and window damage, and damage was also reported at Pine Creek Center School.

The severe weather was expected to move east out of Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma and into the southeastern states Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Storms were expected to calm Sunday morning before intensifying in Georgia and the Carolinas in the afternoon.

CNN's Lee Garen, Susan Candiotti and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

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