Severe storms that caused destruction across southern US states have claimed at least 18 lives on a two-day sweep across the region.

Emergency crews launched airboats into submerged streets to rescue central Florida residents trapped by rising floodwaters from a stalled Tropical Storm Fay, which soaked the state for a third consecutive day.

Extreme weather made life miserable from one end of the United States to the other, with people forced out of their homes by wildfires and major flooding.

Five men were killed and four other people were critically injured in a series of attacks at caravan parks in and around an American city today, police said.

AROUND Georgia parts, they are calling it Hogzilla: a 12ft-long wild hog recently killed on a plantation and now quickly becoming a part of local legend.