Recovery efforts underway after 'heartbreaking' storms that killed at least 14 in the South and Midwest

— -- Parts of the South and Midwest kicked into recovery mode today, after a weekend of powerful storms that left at least 14 people dead.

The weekend round of storms included high-intensity winds, hail and isolated tornadoes in East Texas, where four people died.

"It is heartbreaking and upsetting," Mayor Lou Ann Everett of Canton, Texas, said of the damage caused by the tornados, noting that the twister tore up an area 35 miles long and 15 miles wide.

Twenty-four tornadoes were spotted over the weekend, stretching from Texas to Illinois, ABC News meteorologists said.

Flash-flooding wreaked havoc in Arkansas, where children were swept away in rushes of water, and five people died in total, including a fire chief who was struck by a vehicle while working during the storm, according to The Associated Press.

Aerial footage of the Missouri storms showed entire communities subsumed in flood waters, and two people died as a result of the storms.

Two people died in Mississippi, and a two-year old girl was killed in Tennessee after being hit with a soccer goal post thrown by heavy winds, the AP reported.

Louisiana and Alabama were also affected by the weekend weather.

Meanwhile, a major spring storm is moving east, stretching from New England to the Southeast, according to ABC News meteorologists, complicating recovery efforts

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

This story was supplemented with reporting from The Associated Press.