AKIPRESS.COM - At least five people have died after nearly two dozen tornadoes battered parts of the southern United States over the weekend, leaving at least eight more missing and dozens injured, officials have said, reports ABC News.

A couple was killed in Nashville, Arkansas on Sunday when powerful winds smashed their mobile home in a trailer park, Howard County Coroner John Gray told local media. Their 18-month-old daughter who was also in the home survived.

About 290 kilometres to the south-west in Van, Texas, a husband and wife were found dead near a mobile home park, according to the Dallas Morning News, which said eight people remained missing there.

One person drowned in the town of Corsicana, 96 kilometres south-west of Van, according to the Corsicana Daily Sun.

In Van, homes were completely destroyed, and trees and power lines were toppled as high winds and heavy rains pounded the town, Van Zandt county fire marshal Chuck Allen said.

"Approximately 26 patients have been identified and transported to area hospitals," Mr Allen said in a statement.

He said 30 per cent of all property in the city was damaged.