Tornadoes hit US, power lines and trees toppled, and homes damaged by a tornado in Alabama as heavy snow falls across parts of the south.

A driver was killed when a high winds knocked down a tree, crushing a pickup truck and a 28-year-old woman died after crashing in snow.

The National Weather Service said a tornado struck Mobile, Alabama, a city with a population of about 200,000. Homes were damaged and power lines and trees were toppled.

“That’s the main damage that’s being reported so far … not aware at this any time of any injuries or fatalities,” John Kilcullen, director of operations at the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency, said.

Firefighters carried out door-to-door checks in the affected areas but did not find any serious casualties.

A large section of a church roof was missing and the front wall of the parish wall was gone, said Scott Rye, a senior warden at the church in the Midtown section of the city.

“Thank God this didn’t happen last night,” he said, adding that the building had been packed with about 500 worshippers on Christmas Eve.

Another apparent tornado caused damage in the west Alabama town of Grove Hill, about 80 miles (130km) north of Mobile.

Near McNeill, Mississippi, a likely tornado damaged a dozen homes and sent eight people to the hospital, none with life-threatening injuries, said Pearl River County emergency management agency director Danny Manley.

At least three tornadoes were reported in Texas, although only one building was damaged, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms also contributed to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma and caused thousands of power cuts.

More than 400 flights nationwide were cancelled by Tuesday evening, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. More than half of those were either in or out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which saw several inches of snow.

The snowstorm pushed out of Oklahoma as Christmas Day ended, carrying with it blizzard warnings for parts of northeast Arkansas, where 10 inches (25cm) of snow was forecast.

Freezing rain clung to trees and utility lines in Arkansas and winds gusts up to 30 mph (48kph) whipped them around, causing about 71,000 customers to lose electricity.

Blizzard conditions were also possible for parts of Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky with predictions of four to seven inches (10 to 17.5cm) of snow.

Watch Tornado hits Mobile Alabama video

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