RUSTON, La. (AP) - Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says two people have been killed by a tornado that tore through the northern city of Ruston early Thursday.

The tornado caused severe damage to buildings, vehicles and power lines and forced a local university to cancel classes. National Weather Service hydrologist C. S. Ross says it appears the storm cut a track over 130 miles from eastern Texas to the Louisiana-Arkansas border.

The National Weather Service has given the tornado a preliminary rating of at least  EF3, which entails 'severe damage.'

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness confirmed late Thursday morning that a mother and her son died when a tree fell on their home in Lincoln Parish. No other details about their deaths were immediately available.

First responders are now clearing debris from roadways and providing supplies like MRE's and bottled water for victims.

Louisiana Tech University President Les Guice said on Twitter that classes were also canceled Thursday. The university said no students were reported injured, but debris had to be removed from a dormitory in order to free seven people trapped on campus.

The tornado was part of a severe weather system that pounded Texas with rain Wednesday, killing a woman and two children caught in flash flood waters.

The storm moved into Mississippi on Thursday morning.

Significant tornado damage in Ruston, Louisiana. @MyArkLaMiss @jarodfloyd @ReidLybarger @BrianBriggsWX pic.twitter.com/jzvmW49JPd

— Andy Pederson (@AndyMPederson) April 25, 2019