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May 11, 2015, 8:05 AM GMT / Updated May 11, 2015, 11:07 PM GMT By Shamar Walters, Alexander Smith and F. Brinley Bruton

The death toll climbed to five on Monday after a devastating storm system rolled through Texas and Arkansas, spawning at least one tornado in a city east of Dallas where homes were reduced to splinters.

At least eight people were still unaccounted for in Van, Texas. Authorities said they were still not sure whether one or two tornadoes had struck the city, but they estimated that almost a third of the city had sustained damage.

Two people were killed in Van when the tornado struck Sunday night, authorities said. Two more were killed at a mobile home park in Arkansas, and a fifth died in a flood in Corsicana, Texas, where 10 inches of rain fell in five hours.

In Van, officers with search dogs went door to door overnight looking for people trapped in dozens of homes that were damaged or destroyed. Cars were flipped or crushed, and two schools were damaged.

Morgan Warrington, a high school senior, told NBC News that her parents’ house was just outside the storm. Her aunt was not so lucky.

“She lost everything,” Warrington said. “Her and her kids, and my grandma and her husband, had been at her house when it hit. Everyone is OK, but their house and the whole street was completely demolished. They're fine, just sore and bruised.”

Alex Lopez told NBC DFW: “The people you hung out with a few days ago don't have homes anymore.”

At least 26 people in Van were injured.

The two killed in Arkansas died at a mobile home park in the city of Nashville, which was hammered by "lots of flooding and strong winds," Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Rick Fahr said.

“This town is literally torn apart,” Kamron Westbrook, a 19-year-old college student, told NBC News.

She said her family had retreated to a friend's house farther from the storm, but "driving around this morning it's way worse than we had heard about."

She added: "Multiple trees have been uprooted and are laying on houses along with power lines. Vehicles are smashed and debris is scattered everywhere."

At least 26 tornadoes were reported across the middle of the country on Sunday, and more rough weather was on the way. Up to 50 million Americans from Texas to Michigan were in the path of an expected band of thunderstorms on Monday.

The tornado threat was not expected to be as high, but large hail and damaging winds were psosible, including for Detroit and Columbus, Ohio.

In Van, a city of 2,600 people an hour east of Dallas, the damage ranged from "completely destroyed homes, damaged homes, to trees and power lines down," said Chuck Allen, emergency management coordinator for Van Zandt County.