Sprawling storms, tornadoes kill 3 in US midwest

More than 13 million people in the central United States were under tornado watches, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

A "very dangerous half-mile-wide tornado" touched down in Ohio state, NWS said.

One struck the rural town of Indian Lakes in western Ohio.

"It's pure devastation. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life," Amber Fagan, president of the Indian Lakes Chamber of Commerce, told a Columbus ABC television station.

"Downtown, it's bad. It's very bad."

Three people died in a mobile home park in Winchester, Indiana, when a suspected tornado struck, the ABC and NBC television networks reported, citing state police.

Storms hopscotched across the Ohio Valley, spawning apparent tornadoes in a number of areas.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on social media that a tornado moved through Gallatin and Trimble in his state but left no fatalities.

Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon that is as impressive as it is difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.