Rough Cut (no reporter narration)

Aerial images over Vilonia and Mayflower, Arkansas reveal an extensive trail of debris following a deadly tornado system that slammed flattened neighborhoods, uprooted trees and tossed cars in Arkansas and other states.

At least 16 people are dead and nine of the victims came from the same street in the town of Vilonia, with a population of about 4,100.

Winds ripped houses off their foundations and flipped cars on top of the rubble in the small town in central Arkansas' Faulkner county, one of the worst-hit communities, television pictures showed.

Arkansas authorities said at least 10 people had died in Faulkner and four more across the state - the first reported fatalities of this year's tornado season.

Two others were killed in neighboring Oklahoma and Iowa, state authorities said.