Couple Died Shielding Young Daughter From Tornado

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Emergency responders searched through splintered wreckage Monday after a line of tornadoes battered several small communities in Texas and Arkansas, killing at least five people, including a young couple who died trying to shield their daughter from the storm.

Three people were still missing in a rural East Texas town. Scores of others were hurt, some critically.

The couple, both in their late 20s, died when a twister hit their mobile home late Sunday in the Arkansas town of Nashville.

Michael and Melissa Mooneyhan were trying to protect their daughter when the parents' trailer flipped over and "exploded," Howard County Coroner John Gray said.

"I had wondered if they were in an enclosed space like a hallway or a bathroom just sheltering the little girl when it hit," Gray said. "It's a miracle that little girl survived."

The girl, who is about 18 months old, was taken to the hospital and later released to relatives.