josias strikeout: At least 13 dead after rain, twisters lash mid-US; Storms head east

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Derick Holman hugs Charlene Wilford after they spent a long day helping salvage items from a home damaged after a tornado hit El Reno, Oklahoma late Friday.

By Alastair Jamieson, Staff Writer, NBC News

Violent storms that left 13 people dead in Oklahoma and Missouri were heading towards the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Sunday, as the nation?s mid-section struggled to cope with floodwaters.

Ten people ? eight adults, including three storm chasers, and two children ? were killed after five tornadoes ? one a half-mile wide ? struck the Oklahoma City area Friday evening, terrorizing communities already battered by deadly storms this spring.

Hospitals in Oklahoma City reported 104 injuries, including five critical patients.

One of the dead was named by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office as James C. Talbert, 65, whose vehicle drove off a washed-out bridge in eastern Oklahoma County Saturday.

Flash flooding is a big concern following the storms, and flood warnings are in effect Saturday night for a wide stretch of the country. The Weather Channel's Scott Newell reports.

Three further deaths, in Missouri, were blamed on flooding caused by the torrential hailstorms that the weather system brought to large parts of the mid-US.

Tens of thousands were without power, and only eight minor injuries were reported. Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.

"Authorities have confirmed three deaths from high water; those occurred in Lawrence, Miller and Reynolds counties," said a statement from Missouri governor Jay Nixon?s office.

Three "storm chasers" who had done work with The Weather Channel were killed in Friday's tornadoes. Father and son team Tim and Paul Samaras, as well as chase partner Carl Young, were killed as a result of a twister in El Reno, Okla.

"They went in the field focused on collecting data to enable meteorologists to further the science behind tornadoes which we know has and will help to save countless lives," The Weather Channel said in a statement. "Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones."

The twisters came just 11 days after a monster tornado left 24 dead in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where power outages were reported Friday.

About 30 miles from Oklahoma City, there is now rubble and heartbreak in the aftermath of a destructive storm. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

"The last two nights, I've been having hell," Roy Stoddard, a truck driver from Depew, Okla., who was delayed by rising floodwaters at Little Rock, Ark. on Thursday told The Associated Press. On Friday evening, he had to take shelter in a store's walk-in cooler during Friday evening's rush-hour in Oklahoma City as deadly weather approached.

"I know what a tornado can do," Stoddard added.

The weather system was slowly moving east Sunday, bringing scattered thunderstorms, some severe, to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the Weather Channel?s Michael Palmer said.

?Large hail and damaging winds are the main threat with an isolated tornado possible. ?Lingering warm and humid air ahead of the cold front will produce isolated severe storms in the Carolinas on Monday.?

There is also yet more bad news for the Plains: The chance of yet more severe storms returns Monday, Palmer said.

M. Alex Johnson, Janet Shamlian and Aaron Marmelstein of NBC News, and Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel, contributed to this report.

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