Arkansas and Oklahoma storms kill nine
Storm clouds over Kiefer, Oklahoma, on Thursday night Storm clouds passed over the small town of Kiefer, Oklahoma, on Thursday night

Severe storms have left at least nine people dead and destroyed school buildings and dozens of homes in the US states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

A tornado swept through the small town of Tushka, Oklahoma, killing two elderly sisters and injuring at least 25 people, officials said.

In Garland County, Arkansas, lightning knocked a tree into a house, killing a man and his baby daughter.

And a six-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree in Bald Knob, Arkansas.

Tushka Public School Principal Matt Simpson said the tornado had destroyed five school buildings, the Associated Press news agency reported.

In rural St Francis County, strong storm winds flipped over a mobile home, killing a woman inside it and injuring her husband.

A mother and her eight-year-old son were killed in Little Rock, Arkansas when a tree fell on a home, and outside the city in Pulaski County a tree fell on a vehicle, killing a man inside, a police official said.

The National Weather Service said at least 10 tornados struck the central and southern plains regions of the US on Thursday, and warned of tornados and powerful thunderstorms over the southern US states on Friday.