Survivors search for belongings amid Ark. tornado wreckage

One line of storms crossing southeastern Louisiana damaged trees and homes. The Weather Service reported 6 inches of rain in parts of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, with estimates of 10 inches in places, meteorologist Bob Wagner said. Flooding was expected along the Bogue Falaya River at Camp Covington, in St. Tammany, but there was no immediate estimate of how many people lived in the area.

In Arkansas, Massey, like others in rural Van Buren County, learned of the approaching tornado from a friend who lived miles south in the larger town of Perryville and had seen television news reports.

Massey and her daughter ran to the bathroom with Massey's three grandsons, ages 2 weeks, 2 and 4. The boys and their mother slumped down in the tub, covered by sofa cushions, while Massey held on to the outside. Massey said she felt the house shake and the bathtub begin to move as the storm hit. A wall fell on them, but instead of causing injury it provided protection against other debris.

Catastrophic weather has been a recurring event in Arkansas this year, with at least 26 deaths, most occurring in rural communities and on farms far from the nearest warning siren.

Six of those who died Friday resided among the rolling hills and piney woods of central Arkansas. A teenage girl died in the city of Siloam Springs in northwest Arkansas.

A series of storms Feb. 5, some with wind greater than 166 mph, killed 13 people, nearly all in rural areas. There were no fatalities or injuries from a tornado that struck the Little Rock area April 3, but there was another tornado fatality in January.

Arkansas has also seen a foot of snow, a foot of rain and widespread flooding this year. At least five people died in the floods, according to state emergency management spokeswoman Renee Preslar.

"We could use a little bit of a break," said Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Rickard.

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Associated Press writer Kelly P. Kissel in Siloam Springs contributed to this report.