At least 11 people died as severe storms swept across the southern U.S. on Saturday.

Storm-related fatalities attributed to icy weather were reported in Texas; and, in Alabama from a deadly tornado, and in Louisiana, where winds were so strong that a trailer home was lifted off its foundation and carried several hundred feet.

A man drowned in Oklahoma and the storms even touched the Midwest with at least one death on an icy highway in Iowa.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio, parts of highways were closed in Oklahoma and Arkansas because of flooding, and over 1,200 flights were cancelled at Chicago's international airports.

As the system pushes eastward, rain should end overnight in many southern states, but the Northeast and New England can expect severe weather to last for another day, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.