The death toll from the tornadoes that hit the southern US this week has risen to 340, in one of the worst twister outbreaks in the country's history.

Soldiers and emergency teams are still searching for bodies and survivors.

More than 200 tornadoes were reported across six southern US states on Tuesday and Wednesday.

During a visit to Alabama, which bore the brunt of the storms, President Barack Obama said he had "never seen devastation like this".

Mr Obama was speaking in Tuscaloosa, an Alabama town hit by a mile-wide (1.6km) tornado on Wednesday.

"We are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild," Obama said. "We're going to make sure you're not forgotten."

More than 250 people died in Alabama alone - mostly on Wednesday.

As many as a million homes and businesses in the state are still without power.

The overall death toll across the southern US makes it the second-deadliest tornado outbreak in US history, the Associated Press news agency reports.

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