8 die in severe storms in Arkansas, raising 2008 toll to 24

Siloam Springs, Arkansas: Eight people were killed in Arkansas on Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts of four states, while two dozen or more were injured.

Emergency workers fanned out across Arkansas to help residents cope with another bout of violent weather that pushed the state's storm death toll to 24 for the year.

In Arkansas, destruction ran from Siloam Springs near the Oklahoma line to tiny communities along the Mississippi River. Powerful tornadoes killed 13 people in the state on Feb. 5 and another person on Jan. 8.

"This year it just seems like we're getting pounded," Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Bradley said.

Forecasters said that, across middle America, more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down late on Thursday and early Friday.