One dead as severe storms hit the US Gulf Coast

A severe storm system has caused widespread flooding, tornados and has brought other storm damage to the southern US.

Large areas across the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were affected, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The NWS said wind gusts of up to 75 mph (120 km/h) were possible in some areas.

One death was reported in in Scott County, Mississippi, about 200 miles (320km) north of New Orleans.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency did not give further details about the incident or the cause of death.

Tracking site PowerOutage.us showed more than 250,000 customers across the region without power as of Wednesday afternoon.

Flash flooding was reported in the New Orleans area, where more than a month's worth of rain was recorded over just a few hours, and several suspected tornados caused damage across the Gulf Coast region.

One confirmed twister hit the town of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Homes were damaged but there were no reports of injuries.

The storm front moved eastward throughout the day and parts of southeast Alabama, Florida and Georgia are under tornado warnings into the evening.

Earlier, the same storm front brought severe weather to Texas, with a suspected tornado touching down outside of Houston overnight on Tuesday.

In southeastern Texas, floods caused evacuations and closed highways, and rescue operations are ongoing, according to CBS News and local reports.