23 injured in Texas storms; more tornadoes forecast in U.S.

Nearly two dozen people were injured when tornadoes swept through central Texas as part of a storm system that was expected to spawn more twisters and damaging winds Wednesday.

The storms caused widespread damage Tuesday in Salado, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) north of Austin. Bell County Judge David Blackburn said 23 people were injured, one of them critically. Twelve of the injured were taken to hospitals, Blackburn said.

"There's not much left," said Blackburn, the county's top elected official. "Large trees are uprooted and overturned and stripped. Buildings really reduced to rubble. ... Power lines, power poles, are scattered all over the place. It's pretty devastating."

Photos on social media showed grapefruit-size hail associated with that storm.

Tornadoes were also spotted Tuesday in Iowa, but there were no reports of serious injuries. In Lincoln, Nebraska, powerful wind gusts knocked down tree limbs and caused some roof damage. A possible tornado also caused damage in the small southern Minnesota town of Taopi near the state's border with Iowa.