( CNN ) -- Powerful storms that have ripped across the Southeast killed more than 40 people over the past three days , according to the National Weather Service and reports from several states . A CNN meteorologist called the storms ' impact on North Carolina `` epic . '' Among the worst-hit places was Bertie County , North Carolina , a rural area in the northeast part of the state . The weather service reported 14 deaths in the county . Zee Lamb , county manager , said there were 11 fatalities . Photo gallery : Damage from tornado outbreak . More than 50 people were taken to hospitals in Greenville , and between 50 and 70 homes were destroyed , Lamb said . `` Reports are still incoming , '' Mike Sprayberry , deputy director of the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management , said Sunday morning . The death toll across six states includes another nine in other parts of North Carolina ; four in Virginia ; seven in Alabama , two in Oklahoma , seven in Arkansas and one in Mississippi . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's Storm Prediction Center said it received reports of at least 230 tornadoes across the region during the past three days , though some of those reports were likely sightings of the same twister . Virginia Gov . Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency `` to direct all possible resources towards responding to this event . '' For North Carolina , `` When the storm count is finalized , this will likely be an historic tornado outbreak , '' said CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras . `` It is quite unusual to have this many supercell tornadoes of this intensity strike the area . '' iReport : Drive-by look at Raleigh damage . North Carolina normally gets about 19 tornadoes a year , according to the National Climatic Data Center . There are 90 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the state in the latest storm system . A single tornado often gets multiple reports , so it is not immediately clear how many there were , Jeras explained . `` But regardless , this is an epic event . '' The deaths in North Carolina included three people in Raleigh who were killed in mobile homes , the weather service said . In eastern North Carolina , two people died near Ammon , one was killed in the Bladenboro area and another died in the Benson and Black Creek area , the weather service said . iReport photos : Damage in N.C. | More . North Carolina state Rep. Mike Stone reported two additional deaths in Lee County . At Camp Lejeune , according to a news release , roughly a dozen homes were destroyed and as many as 120 were damaged following a series of tornadoes that touched down near a housing area Saturday evening . One seriously injured child was taken to a nearby hospital , according to the statement . CNN affiliate WTVD broadcast images of damaged homes and vehicles in Smithfield , North Carolina , as local residents and emergency workers surveyed the damage . Gov . Bev Perdue declared a state of emergency for the entire state , according to the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management . `` We 've been assured we 'll have whatever federal support we 'll need , '' Perdue told reporters late Saturday . The governor said that as of late Saturday , the number of storm-related power outages had dropped from 250,000 to 143,000 . In South Carolina , a tornado cut through Berkeley County , destroying a church and injuring six people , the weather service said . Meanwhile , emergency crews in Georgia , Mississippi and Alabama worked to assess the damage after the storm system moved north through the Carolinas and up into southern Virginia . iReport photos : Lightning strike in Alabama | More . In Virginia , three Gloucester County residents died and 64 suffered injuries from the fast-moving storms Saturday , according to Bob Spieldenner , director of public affairs for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management . A tornado also ripped the roof off a school in the county , felled trees that blocked multiple roads and severed power lines , leaving 9,300 people without electricity , according to Spieldenner . In the Shenandoah Valley , in the western part of the state , a child died after being swept away in a flash flood , according to the National Weather Service . Spieldenner said authorities rescued another flood victim , but a third is missing . The storms were the latest in a round of severe weather that has hit parts of the Midwest and South since Thursday . They left a trail of downed trees and power lines , scattered cars and crushed homes as it moved east and then turned north . CNN 's Kara Devlin , Ben Smith , Greg Morrison , Stephanie Gallman , Anna Gonzalez and Georgette Knuckles contributed to this report .
NEW : NOAA 's Storm Prediction Center says it has received reports of at least 230 fatalities . Bertie County , North Carolina , manager reports 12 fatalities , weather service says 14 . Storm - related deaths are reported in several other states . ` ` Epic event '' for North Carolina , CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras says .