Tropical storm Aere kills 15 in Philippines

Fifteen people were killed and nearly 70,000 people were forced from their homes as tropical storm Aere pummelled the Philippines

The death toll from Aere, which hit on Sunday, jumped from nine, with six more people reported killed in floods, landslides and road accidents, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre said. However, after two days of heavy rains across the main island of Luzon, the storm had weakened and was exiting the northern Philippines this morning, according to the national weather bureau.

"The storm is moving away from the country in a north, northeast direction,adding it was expected to move close to Japan's south-west coast by Thursday. It said Aere's maximum sustained winds had fallen to 65km/h, from 85km/h on Sunday. The disaster agency said that nearly 70,000 people had been forced to leave their storm-hit homes on Luzon, and the initial estimate of damages to the farming sector was more than $US2.7 million.

U.S. violent storms killed more than 250 lives

Tornadoes caused huge disaster across the southern U.S and killing more than 250 people. Reports state that this particular tornado is likely to be the deadliest outbreak in the US since 1974 when 307 were killed. Alabama took the heaviest losses in that event as well, with 77 casualties. More than 250 tornadoes touched down across the South between April 25 and 27 which has been reported by weather channel.

The worst- hit areas are Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. States of emergency have been declared in those areas and governors called out the National Guard to help with rescue and cleanup operations. A few days before Northern Arkansas and St. Louis, Missouri, were also affected with southern Missouri also dealing with significant flooding after a breached levee.

The storms also were destructive in the Griffin/Barnesville area. One couple who attended the Griffin First Church of the Nazarene was killed and their family members were injured and hospitalized with some undergoing surgery Thursday morning. In Alabama, the 90,000-strong city of Tuscaloosa was hit hardest, with at least 37 people killed, including some students, authorities said.

A nuclear plant in Alabama lost power because of the severe weather. The agency said in a statement that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is monitoring the situation at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant after the site lost offsite power early Wednesday evening due to severe storms that damaged power lines in the area. The disastrous storms have caused widespread power shortage, with approximately one million customers without electricity.