AFP, Washington

The death toll from weekend storms that raked across parts of the US South and Midwest has risen by three to 32, according to official counts, with more extreme weather forecast for yesterday and today.

Tennessee, one of the hardest-hit states since the storms unleashed tornadoes, fierce winds and flooding beginning Friday, earlier reported 12 weather-related fatalities Sunday and later raised that figure to 15.

Scenes of devastation were left in the path of the Tennessee tornado, which uprooted trees, flattened homes into piles of wooden boards and flipped vehicles.

The toll in Tennessee came on top of the 17 deaths reported in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama in the US South, Indiana and Illinois in the Midwest, and the mid-Atlantic state of Delaware.