(Reuters) -At least 14 people were killed overnight in Kentucky in the wake of severe storms and the death toll is expected to rise, Governor Andy Beshear said on Saturday, after the dangerous weather system ripped across the state and neighboring Missouri,

At least nine people died late Friday in Laurel County, Ky., the authorities said. More severe weather was expected across North Texas and the southern plains on Saturday.

Storm systems sweeping across parts of the Midwest and South have left at least 21 dead, many of them in Kentucky, with the death toll likely to rise.