PICHER, Okla., May 11 (UPI) -- At least 20 people were killed Sunday as tornadoes and intense storms ripped through portions of the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, officials say.

Search and rescue teams reported seven deaths in Ottawa County, Okla., 10 in Racine, Mo., one in Jasper County, Mo., and one near Purdy in Barry County, Mo., CNN reported.

More people may be dead in Missouri, said Susie Stonner, spokeswoman with the State Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City, Mo.

It's dark and it was over a wide area. Some of the houses have been completely destroyed. There's a possibility there will be additional people, she said.

A tornado ripped through Picher, Okla., around 6 p.m. Saturday, damaging several buildings, killing at least seven people and wounding about 150 others.

It looks like a war zone. Some homes have fallen in, some homes have lost roofs, and some are now just slabs, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

About 3,000 people are without electricity, mostly in the Tulsa and McAlester areas of Oklahoma, emergency officials reported.

Lisa Janek of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said storms in the town of Dublin killed one person, while the town of Kite was completely destroyed by powerful storms and tornadoes, CNN reported.

The report I am getting is the whole town is gone, Janek said of Kite, home to early 200 residents. I have worked in emergency management for eight years and I never received a report like that before.

CNN said in significant portions of both Georgia and Oklahoma, thousands of residents were without electricity.

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Sunday he is not worried about attacks from Republicans if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama told CNN's Late Edition he feels he is completely prepared to defend himself against likely Republican allegations he is a tax-and-spend Democrat.

Absolutely. But because think about what I am going to be running against: the failed policies of the Bush administration, which (presumptive GOP nominee) John McCain wants to continue, Obama said. I don't think there is anybody in this country who thinks that, right now, we have got a government that's managed our domestic policies well.

When asked if he intends to eliminate the tax cuts instituted under President George W. Bush, Obama said he does.

I want to eliminate the Bush tax cuts, he said. And what I have said is, I will institute a middle-class tax cut. So, if you're making $75,000, if you're making $50,000 a year, you will see an extra $1,000 a year offsetting on your payroll tax.

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., says Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., needs to be careful in her drive for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, the former Democratic presidential hopeful said Clinton must recognize a point at which her White House bid begins to damage her party's general election hopes.

But I think the one thing that she has to be careful about -- and she doesn't need my advice; she knows this full well -- is she has to be careful about, going forward, is that, if she makes the case for herself, which she's completely entitled to do, she has to be really careful that she's not damaging our prospects, the Democratic Party, and our cause, for the fall, Edwards said.

If Sen. Clinton doesn't get the nomination, I am absolutely certain that she and (former) President (Bill) Clinton will be out there campaigning for Sen. Obama, Edwards said.

SEOUL, May 11 (UPI) -- The South Korean government is on the verge of approving a $9.6 million aid package for North Korea, an official said Sunday.

The Yonhap news agency reported South Korea is likely to approve the humanitarian aid for its neighbor to the north despite chilled relations with the reclusive communist government in Pyongyang.

If approved, the aid will match funds raised by civic organizations spearheading relief efforts, said an official, who spoke to the news agency on the condition of anonymity.

Seoul's new conservative government has vowed to link any non-humanitarian assistance for North Korea to progress in international talks aimed at ridding the North of its nuclear programs.

The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Committee will hold its first meeting since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration on Thursday, and vote on the amount of funds to be provided to civilian humanitarian projects this year, the official at the Ministry of Unification said.

The ministry has been reviewing about 60 requests for matching funds since late February, Yonhap said.