Natural Disaster | featured news

At least two tornadoes touched down near Chico in Northern California on Wednesday, causing some damage to structures but no injuries.

At least 2 people were killed in central Oklahoma in an outbreak of tornadoes, while other funnel clouds were reported near Dallas and Fort Worth.

17 people have been rescued from the rubble left by Sunday's tornado, but officials say efforts will continue throughout the day: 'We hope to find more folks.' The death toll from the tornado that crushed Joplin has risen to 117, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest such event in the U.S. since 1953.

Tornadoes tore through parts of the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin and causing one death in Minneapolis as well as causing extensive property damage.

A tornado swept through a small eastern Kansas town, killing one person and destroying at least 20 homes, as severe thunderstorms pelted the region with hail that some residents said was the size of baseballs, authorities said early Sunday.

A landslide buried 20 boys and four adults at a Malaysian orphanage Saturday where scores of rescuers were digging by their hands in soil softened by the rains to find the missing, police said.

A contraction in the first quarter at an annual rate of 3.7 percent was worse than economists had expected.

An 11-year-old boy lived through a tornado that demolished part of his house by hiding in a clothes dryer, according to reports.

Mississippi state officials expect to evacuate 2,000 to 5,000 people in coming days. In Louisiana, more spill gates are opened to divert floodwater.

The swollen Mississippi River rolled south Wednesday as communities along its delta braced for flooding, and vast farms remained under threat as it left a trail of submerged homes.