Church leveled; storms target South, Midwest

An apparent tornado demolished a church as a large system of storms threatened several states across the South and Midwest, authorities said.

The storm destroyed the Ringgold Assembly of God Church in Ringgold, Louisiana, late Friday night, the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday. No injuries were reported.

The National Weather Service planned damage surveys to confirm whether a tornado struck the church.

Saturday’s storms were rolling across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, where power companies on Saturday reported more than 15,000 customers without electricity. Thousands of other power outages were reported in Texas and Arkansas.

Meteorologists said Saturday’s storms were just the start of what’s expected to be a dangerous week of weather.