Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore through Oklahoma, Missouri and neighboring states Saturday, leaving at least 16 deaths in their wake, authorities said.

Susie Stonner, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Emergency Management, told Disaster News Network at least 10 people were reported dead in the southwestern region of the state.

The injuries and fatalities occurred in Jasper, Newton and Barry counties, Stonner said.

At least six people were killed in Picher, a northeastern Oklahoma town of about 1,600 people where an EF3 twister hit. More are missing and others are injured, the DNN reported.

They're not going to stop search and rescue overnight, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management. There is terrible devastation and we don't have fast numbers on the number of missing yet.

Bill Davis with the National Weather Service in Springfield, Mo., said what was believed to have been a tornado left a wide path with a lot of houses destroyed or damaged. It was on the ground for several miles in Newton County, beginning in Kansas before crossing into Missouri. The county's sheriff, Ken Copeland, said the twisters absolutely leveled many homes.

In Arkansas, a tornado was blamed for leveling a house and a commercial building in Bentonville, National Weather Service meteorologist John Robinson said. Homes and businesses also were damaged in Stuttgart, Ark., where several people were reported caught in the debris. Tornadoes also hit Yanush, Okla.

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