At least six people were killed after severe storms tore through a number of southern states late on Wednesday, adding to weeks of extreme weather that had already killed more than two dozen people and destroyed hundreds of homes.

More than two dozen tornadoes hit four states overnight.

In Louisiana, a man was found dead after he lost his footing and was swept away by floodwaters. A witness reported the man was trying to retrieve a trash can from water near a drainage ditch.

Some areas in Louisiana had experienced “extreme flooding” the likes of which Sheriff Jayson Richardson of DeSoto parish had not “seen in many, many years, if ever”.

“Basically the water rose really fast and we had to rescue some people out of homes. I think we had about 20 or so homes that people were flooded in,” he told the Shreveport Times.

The Alexandria campus of Louisiana State University confirmed “there [was] damage to DeWitt Livestock building and a camper flipped over,” leaving the campus without power.

“All resident students safe,” the school tweeted.

Thanks to #LSUA Facilities, cleanup is underway here on campus. Stay tuned for more images from last night’s storm. pic.twitter.com/n3Vnx76Cnj — LSUA (@LSUAlexandria) April 23, 2020

Wednesday’s storms caused havoc in many rural communities, causing damage to factories at multiple facilities across the south. At least two factory workers have been killed.

In Louisiana, a worker’s body was found more than a quarter-mile away after an apparent tornado struck, severely damaging the factory and nearby town.

A tornado in Marshall county, Oklahoma, killed a worker after a storm hit the Oklahoma Steel and Wire plant as employees were leaving for the day.

Robert Chaney, the county’s emergency management director, said the person’s body was found near J&I Manufacturing, a trailer factory about six miles south-west of Madill.

The tornado damaged at least two other businesses.

Elsewhere, at least three people were killed when an apparent tornado touched down in south-east Texas near Onalaska, about 75 miles (120km) north of Houston, the Polk county emergency management system said.

Onalaska on Lake Livingston was completely devastated by a potential tornado this evening. This is video of Yaupon Cove from Lindsey Jones. More to come. pic.twitter.com/zg6bMj3Bhb — Royden Ogletree (@roydenogletree) April 23, 2020

According to Carrie Miller, a spokeswoman for Polk county judge Sydney Murphy, the storm also caused severe damage to homes and other structures in Seven Oaks.

“It took me 45 minutes to climb through the roof to get out,” Charles Stephens, an Onalaska resident, told the Houston Chronicle after he and his wife attempted to shelter in their bathroom.

A pine tree fell through the Stephens’ roof during the storms. They used a hatchet to get out of the debris.

A National Weather Service team will be dispatched across the south to survey damage and to confirm whether the storms were tornadoes. Poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports, showed more than 100,000 customers from Texas to Mississippi without power as of Thursday.

Across southern Mississippi and Alabama, trees and power lines were toppled as tornado warnings sent residents rushing to take cover.

The AP contributed to this report