Investigators found more than 800 rounds of ammunition in the car of the man accused of scaling the White House fence and sprinting inside the building, a US prosecutor said today. A machete and two hatchets also were found.

A tornado-spewing storm system that killed at least 45 people across half the US unleashed its worst fury on North Carolina, where residents mourned the dead, marvelled at their survival and began to clean up devastated neighbourhoods.