Print edition: 
ATLANTA — A tornado-spewing system left a swath of death and debris from Oklahoma to North Carolina and Virginia, killing at least 45 people, disrupting power service for thousands, and leaving many others injured or huddled in shelters.
The three-day outbreak included 241 tornadoes reported over 14 states, according to AccuWeather.com, which noted that the spate of twisters is likely to rank among the most active ever recorded.
Meteorologists warned that another storm system was likely to plague the central and southern Plains early this week and move east, possibly striking some of the same areas.
In North Carolina, at least 22 people were reported dead as storms slammed through the state Saturday night. At least 11 were killed and 50 injured in Bertie County, a rural peanut- and chicken-farming region in the state's northeast corner.
County manager Zee Lamb said a twister apparently tore a course of destruction a half-mile wide and 5 to 7 miles long as it moved northeast from the town of Askewville. He said 75 homes appeared to be destroyed — although in some places, he added, "you can't tell where there was a house and where there wasn't a house."
In Virginia, storms and flooding left at least five people dead and caused power outages around the state and a mudslide in the southwest.
The destruction began in Tushka, Okla., on Thursday night, when storms totaled the local high school and killed two people.
On Sunday, amid warnings of more punishing weather in the days ahead, residents were calling the local sheriff to ask about places to ride out the next round.
"We've had enough," Atoka County sheriff's Deputy Dennis Eldridge deadpanned in a phone interview Sunday afternoon. "That's all we need."
From Oklahoma, the storm system moved on to kill seven people in Arkansas, seven in Alabama and at least one in Mississippi.
AccuWeather officials said the extreme weather is the result of particularly warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies warm, moist air that significantly boosts storm power. Southwesterly wind in the upper atmosphere and southerly to southeasterly wind in the lower atmosphere created twisting motions and wind shear that made tornadoes more likely.
It's the deadliest tornado outbreak since 2008.
