At least 15 people were killed in Arkansas on Sunday after a powerful tornado hit the state and flattened parts of Vilonia, a Little Rock suburb.
A storm chaser told NBC News that Vilonia looks like "it has been hit with an atomic bomb." The destruction is so bad that longtime residents are having a hard time finding their way around what's left of the town because so many landmarks have been destroyed.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Aerial view of the central town after a tornado hit Vilonia, Arkansas April 28, 2014.
The tornado that hit Vilonia was just one of several tornadoes that swept across the midwest and southern U.S. on Sunday.
Ten of those who died in the tornadoes were from Vilonia and the neighboring suburb of Mayflower, according to NBC News. At least 150 homes in that area were destroyed.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
A residential neighborhood is seen destroyed by a tornado in this aerial photograph taken near Vilonia, Arkansas April 28, 2014.
America has seen a massive tornado outbreak this week, with more than 100 tornadoes confirmed in 10 states over a 48-hour period. So far, 21 people have died in the storms.
The tornadoes are coming from supercell storms that are lined up one right after the other.
On Monday, Mississippi was hit with a severe tornado that left destruction in its wake.
REUTERS/Gene Blevins
Lighting strikes from a TVS (tornadic vortex signature) storm in Columbus, Mississippi April 28, 2014.
The death count in Vilonia and elsewhere might continue to rise as rescuers search the rubble.
Some of the homes that were demolished in the twister that hit Vilonia on Sunday had just been rebuilt after a tornado that had hit the town three years ago this week, according to NBC News.
A newly built school, shown in the photograph below, was also leveled in the storm.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
A newly built school is seen destroyed by a tornado in this aerial photograph near Vilonia, Arkansas April 28, 2014.
The $14 million school was set to open this coming fall.
Vilonia Schools Superintendent Frank Mitchell told reporters: "There's just really nothing there anymore. We're probably going to have to start all over again."