Tornadoes raked America’s southern Plains region, overturning cars on an Oklahoma City motorway and destroying dozens of homes.

Windows were boarded up and the streets on Cedar Key in the Gulf of Mexico were desolate as the first tropical storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season started moving over Florida early today, but forecasters said they did not expect Alberto to strengthen into a hurricane.

A MAN kidnapped two girls from their Florida homes while their parents slept, took them to a construction site and raped them before sending them home, threatening to kill their families if they said anything, authorities said.