4 days 16 hours 22 min ago Tornadoes cause devastation from Oklahoma to Georgia Play video

(NECN/ABC) - Powerful tornadoes are being blamed for 22 deaths across three states. One the hardest areas is Picher, Oklahoma. At least 6 people were killed there and parts of the town have been completely levelled.

ABC New reporter Dian Alvear has more on the story.

Script: Survivors sifted through what little was left of their communities on Sunday after tornadoes tore across several states leaving a trail of death and destruction.

Tressie Gilmore stated "My mother was to my right and my children were in my arms and I thought I'm going to die and I'm going to watch my children die and I'm going to watch my mother die."

Pitcher, Oklahoma was particularly hard hit as the twister devastated a 20- square-block area.

Lieutenant George Brown of the Picher police said "This is utterly devastating. This is just like a bomb dropped out of the sky and hit and just destroyed everything in its path."

The storm then moved into Missouri claiming more homes and lives across a mile-wide path of destruction. In many cases residents said they had no warning that tornadoes were approaching.

"It was clear, there weren't any clouds, there wasn't any rain. And we sat back down and was talking a little bit longer and it just kept getting louder"

"And it hit, no.., I mean, we didn't see nothing, was in the car, the car just started shimmying and I told my roommate we're goners."

President Bush has spoken with governors to express

More than three dozen tornadoes moved across the south and Midwest this weekend, in what has been the most volatile tornado season in decades.

Twisters have claimed more lives so far this year than in all of 2007.