DAMASCUS, Arkansas (AP)  -- Residents of communities across Arkansas are spending the weekend facing the wreckage of homes torn apart by violent weather that has pushed this year's storm death toll in the state up to at least 26.

``You can see the bags under the eyes of the people who consistently over and over again are called on to respond,'' Gov. Mike Beebe said. ``That's their job and that's our job and we'll do it, no matter how many hours it takes or how many days it takes.''

Seven Arkansans were killed Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts of four states, and two dozen or more were injured. Emergency officials initially reported eight deaths, but revised the figure downward Saturday. Meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across middle America late Thursday and early Friday.

Destruction in Arkansas ran from Siloam Springs near the Oklahoma line, to tiny communities along the Mississippi River.

Eighteen Arkansas counties reported damage, including some 400 homes damaged or destroyed, Renee Preslar, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said workers Saturday.

``There is clean up going on everywhere,'' Preslar said.

Storms also ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo. Oklahoma endured severe hail, and tents tumbled at an open-air market in eastern Texas.

Wes Morrison, 24, was at a convenience store in Earle when a friend called to warn about the storm. ``Dad and I took off,'' Morrison said. ``As we were (driving) down Main Street, you could just see that cloud twirling around.''

He and his father made it to an inside bathroom of his grandparents' house just before the tornado came through, Morrison said.

``I don't think it lasted but 10 seconds,'' he said. ``When it was over, the First Baptist Church of Earle, which is just across the street from my grandparents' house - it's gone.''

Wind ripped the roof off another church, one so new that neighbors said it had not yet held services.

Members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist Church just north of the Van Buren County town of Damascus after a neighbor warned them of the coming storm. They said it was total silence as the storm approached.

``Everybody was afraid,'' said worker Jesus Estrada, 22.

After the storm, he and others went down the street and aided firefighters who were helping people out of their homes.

Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas.

Beebe said Arkansans would cope with the latest in a string of bad weather. The state has had a foot of snow and a foot of rain. Severe flooding killed at least five people, Preslar said.

``We will fight through it, we will get through it and we will help our neighbors,'' he said. ``We'll do what's necessary to take care of our people.''

Six of the deaths Friday were in two counties, Conway and Van Buren, hit hard by the February tornado. That storm, with a 122-mile-long track, had wind estimated at 166 to 200 mph. Friday's tornado Friday had wind of 135 to 165 mph.

In central Arkansas, a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when the storm destroyed their house just south of Bee Branch, in Van Buren County. ``There wasn't anything left,'' Bradley said.

Near the Arkansas-Oklahoma line, a 15-year-old girl died early Friday when a storm toppled a tree onto her family's home in Siloam Springs. She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy survived with minor injuries and was pulled from the wreckage by neighbors.

``She was dead on top of him with the tree on top of her. It was just the mattress in between them, and he was screaming `Get it off of me! Get it off of me!''' Chad Tilghman said.

A man and one of his sons died near Birdtown in Conway County; officials initially reported the death of a second son but Saturday he remained hospitalized. The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of Little Rock.

The storms marked the latest atmospheric assault in what weather watchers say has already been a very active early storm season. Through April there have been 708 tornadoes, compared to 517 during the same period last year.