New York, April 29 (IANS) Severe storms that have been battering southern US since last week have left at least 247 people as dead in six states, ravaging whole neighbourhoods and crippling towns, media reports said.

 
 The vast majority of fatalities occurred in Alabama, where 162 people perished, CNN quoted Yasamie August, Alabama Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman, as saying.
 
 The worst-hit Alabama is followed by Mississippi, where 32 people died.
 
 A tornado left a trail of destruction in Tuscaloosa - a city of 90,000 people in Alabama - Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua reported citing local daily Birmingham News.
 
 The highest toll was in Franklin county in the northwest, where 18 people died, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency said.
 
 US President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Alabama, authorising the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate immediate disaster relief efforts, the White House said in a statement.