Associated Press
Saturday, April 8, 2006

NASHVILLE, April 7 -- A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes marched across the South on Friday, peeling away roofs, overturning cars and killing at least 11 people in Tennessee, officials said.

It was the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week. Last weekend, thunderstorms and tornadoes killed 24 people in the western part of the state and destroyed more than 1,000 houses and other buildings.

The storms raked an area from Mississippi to Virginia as they moved to the northeast late Friday after developing from a low-pressure system in the central Plains.

The Nashville suburbs were hit hardest, with at least eight deaths northeast of the city.

Fire Chief Joe Womack said three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in a subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of the city.

Tornadoes were also reported in the Nashville suburbs of Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and Ashland City and in Holladay, about 90 miles west of Nashville. The storms flattened trees, knocked down power lines, and damaged houses and other buildings.

Spotty communications made it difficult for emergency responders to get a full picture of the damage caused by the storms. Hospitals admitted at least 60 people with storm-related injuries.

Through the end of March, an estimated 286 tornadoes had hit the United States this year, compared with an average of 70 for the same three-month period in each of the previous three years.