Deadly storms batter Southeastern U.S.
11 deaths reported; more severe weather expected in region
Friday, April 7, 2006; Posted: 11:05 p.m. EDT (03:05 GMT)
A twister captured on a cell phone camera by Gallatin, Tennessee, resident Isaac Cooper.
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Twister caught on camera phone (:46)
South witnesses nature's fury (:58)
Destruction in Gallatin, Tennessee (:36)
A tornado rips through Charlotte, Tennessee (1:53)
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Manage Alerts | What Is This? (CNN) -- A line of severe thunderstorms and multiple tornadoes swept parts of four states on Friday, killing at least 11 people in Tennessee, authorities said.
More severe storms are expected in the region through Friday night.
Eight of the deaths were in Sumner County, north of Nashville, said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Randy Harris, and three others in Warren County southeast of Nashville. No further details were immediately available. (Watch some of the damage in Gallatin -- :36)
As evening arrived, severe weather began to batter states farther south, as well.
As of 8 p.m., 31 tornadoes had been reported, and there had been more than 300 reports of hail, with stones of more than 4 inches in diameter, said CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. There were also 42 reports of wind damage.
Multiple tornado warnings continued to bloom Friday night across Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia. Previously, warnings were issued in Ohio, Indiana and Louisiana. (Watch how a tornado ripped through Charlotte, Tennessee -- 1:53)
Forecasters said there is a 60 percent probability of a tornado in the area encompassing northeast Mississippi, northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.
"Several long-lived, violent tornadoes now appear increasingly likely," the prediction center states.
"The threat of strong to violent tornadoes will continue" as intense supercell thunderstorms move to the east and northeast across southern Tennessee, northern Alabama and possibly as far east as northwestern Georgia, forecasters said. (View the damage)
The NWS said two mobile homes were destroyed north of Charlotte, Tennessee. CNN's Wolf reported tornadoes touched down near City Hall in Goodlettsville, north of Nashville, and in Greenbrier, northwest of the city.
"We have damage on Highway 49 east, which is between Charlotte and Ashland City," just west of Nashville, Dickson County Mayor Linda Frazier said. "We have homes damaged. We do have some injuries already being reported and the injured people that they could get to have already been transported to the hospital." (Watch how a twister tossed cars across a dealership parking lot -- :58)
Frazier said she did not know the severity of the injuries. Because of downed trees, officials were having trouble getting through to survey the damage, she said.
"We are working feverishly to get through to the people to be able to assess the damage and get to anybody who will be in need of shelter or whatever else their needs may be," she said.
Nashville station WVTF reported a roof had been blown off a building in Ashland City. Hail was reported in several locations.
Reid Bell said he drove through a tornado in Benton County, near Holladay. "I was speaking to God most of the time," he said, adding that he was mainly concerned about downed power poles and power lines. "Of course, I wanted to get away from those." (Watch how one Tennesseean caught a twister on camera phone -- :46)
In Cheatham County, west of Nashville, the storms damaged property but there were no reported injuries, Doris Mays of the county's Emergency Management Agency told The Associated Press.
"We've got roofs off, trees down, lines down," Mays said. "There are a lot of people without power right now."
Last Sunday, violent storms and tornadoes killed at least 27 people, 23 of them in northwestern Tennessee, and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings. Three people died in Missouri and another in Illinois. Damage was reported in eight states.
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