Boston, U.S.- Severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado tore into New Hampshire on Thursday, killing at least one person, leaving an unidentified number trapped in homes and bringing down trees, residents and local media said.
'We still have live wires and trees down everywhere,' said Ms Mary Frambach, a volunteer at the fire department in Epsom, a town in eastern New Hampshire hit hard by the storm that struck central and eastern areas of the state.
She said that rescue authorities were helping remove people trapped in badly damaged homes, including at least one that had collapsed.
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch declared a state of emergency in five counties and opened an emergency operations centre.
The area covered by the state of emergency is home to 675,000 people, more than half of the largely rural state's population. It includes the state capital Concord as well as vacation towns around Lake WinnipesaukeeLake Winnipesaukee.
'The situation is still ongoing. I urge all New Hampshire citizens to take sensible precautions and to heed all warnings from public safety officials,' Mr Lynch said in a statement.
At least one person was killed near Northwood Lake in Epsom, New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper reported.
'We have reports of about 100 homes damaged,' Mr Colin Manning, a spokesman for the governor, said in a telephone interview, adding that Mr Lynch was in a helicopter inspecting affected areas.
'There clearly were quite a number of houses that were damaged. Some of them appear to be completely flattened or large portions of them flattened,' said New Hampshire's State Emergency Management spokesman, Mr Jim Van Dongen.
Mr Todd Gutner, a meteorologist at WBZ-TV, said that based on reports of damage it was likely the area was hit by a tornado, a rare occurrence in the region.
'I have never seen rain come down like that,' Mr Mike Hedstrom, a resident in Northwood, New Hampshire, told the television station. 'Houses are down, roofs are off, trees are down,' he added.
Mr Wayne Murray, a 58-year-old resident in Deerfield, New Hampshire, told the Union Leader that part of the roof on his house tore off in the winds and the area looked like 'a war zone'. -- REUTERS
