Severe weather warnings remain in place throughout the weekend as extreme conditions, including a tornado outbreak, threatens the South.

Thousands of power outages were reported Saturday as a deadly severe weather outbreak moved across the Midwest and South.

The most fatalities were in Missouri. Forecasters warned that tornadoes, hail and violent winds continue to threaten states in the Deep South, from Louisiana to Georgia.

A dangerous tornado outbreak which started on Friday evening continued into the first half of the weekend with nearly 2 dozen deaths across the nation's heartland and South.

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.

Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.