Deadly tornadoes rip through US state

Tornadoes have wreaked havoc in the US state of Oklahoma killing at least five people and injuring dozens more.

The twisters blew cars off highways, toppled homes and sent baseball-size hail crashing through windshields.

Oklahoma City officials said the fatalities involved a young boy who was hit by debris in his home and a man whose vehicle flipped over on top of him.

Officials reported that at least 58 others suffered injuries throughout Oklahoma in the daylong onslaught.

In some neighbourhoods in Oklahoma City, emergency workers were going door to door to make sure everyone was accounted for.

The storms were part of a violent weather system that also spawned twisters in Kansas and that forecasters had been predicting since last week.

TV broadcasters dedicated their entire day to storm coverage, with some showing live video of the twisters as they rolled across the countryside.

Widespread destruction led authorities to close Interstate 40, a major east-west route, in both directions just east of Oklahoma City.

Interstate 35, which runs from Mexico to Minnesota, also was closed briefly at the Kansas-Oklahoma border because overturned tractor-trailers blocked all lanes.

Power was out to more than 37-thousand homes and businesses across the state.