Storms sweep southern US and Midwest, 11 killed

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio. Some highways were closed in Oklahoma and Arkansas due to flooding, and more than 1,200 flights were cancelled at Chicago's two international airports.

Washington:Severe storms sweeping across southern portions of the U.S. and up into the Midwest were blamed on Saturday in the deaths of at least 11 people as high winds, tornadoes and unrelenting rain battered large swaths of the country.

Of the victims, a police officer and a firefighter were killed in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday morning with another critically injured after they were hit by a car while responding to a traffic accident.

A man drowned in Oklahoma after he was swept away by floodwaters while getting out of his stalled truck, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on Saturday.

An elderly couple were found dead on Saturday near their demolished trailer in Louisiana, and another person was killed on an icy highway in Iowa after his truck overturned.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio.

Some highways were closed in Oklahoma and Arkansas due to flooding, and more than 1,200 flights were cancelled at Chicago's two international airports, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation's online flight-tracking website.

Many streams were already at or near flood levels because of earlier storms, and heavy rains could lead to flash flooding across the region, forecasters said.