"Six people were confirmed dead when I left the site," Columbus County Commissioner Sammy Jacobs told AFP.
Local media cited officials as saying as many as nine people died when the tornado bore down on a community of mobile homes near the city of Wilmington in the southern state.
Officials said the tornado cut a wide path through the area, sending mobile homes crashing on top of cars and downing power lines.
Police sealed off access to the neighbourhood as search and rescue operations were under way.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006