An 8-year-old boy and his mother were killed by a tornado in Louisiana

A series of tornadoes swept through the South on Tuesday, killing a boy and a mother whose home in Louisiana was destroyed, officials said.

The mother and her 8-year-old son were reported missing after a tornado made landfall in Keithville Tuesday night, damaging several buildings and uprooting trees and power lines, according to the Caddo Township Sheriff’s Office.

After hours of searching for a missing mother and child, the agency reported that the boy was found dead in a wooded area near his destroyed home.

Just before 3 a.m., the sheriff’s office reported that first responders located the boy’s missing 30-year-old mother, who was found dead a street from her home.

“She was under debris caused by a tornado,” the sheriff’s statement said.

The victims have not yet been identified.

At least two other people, described only as an adult man and a woman, were hospitalized with injuries. Her condition was not immediately known.

“It’s a really sad, sad situation,” Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said.

Caddo MPs go house to house looking for residents. Cadaver dogs and a drone will be deployed in the search throughout Wednesday.

The deadly Louisiana tornado was part of a destructive weather system that also spawned hurricanes in parts of Texas and Oklahoma and brought blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains.

Five tornadoes were confirmed across North Texas on Tuesday, but a dozen may have occurred.

Several people were injured and dozens of homes and businesses were damaged outside the Dallas area.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are bracing for more storms Wednesday, weather forecasters said.

Blizzard warnings stretched from Montana to western Nebraska and Colorado, and the National Weather Service said up to 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska.

Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with days of ice, rain, and snow and advance into the Northeast and central Appalachian Mountains.

Residents from West Virginia to Vermont have been told to watch for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.

With postal wires