Published on Jan 30, 2013




High
winds, tornadoes cause damage in Southeast
(CNN) -- A weather system
stretching from Michigan to the Louisiana coastline threw down high winds and
spawned a handful of tornadoes Wednesday, including one that caused significant
damage in the northwest Georgia town of Adairsville.

At least two people
died, authorities reported.

In the Adairsville storm, winds caused
significant damage to a motel and a manufacturing plant, according to Craig
Milsap, the fire chief and interim emergency management director for Bartow
County. The motel's guests are believed safe and workers at the plant have all
been accounted for, he said.

The National Weather Service also reported
major structural damage and overturned cars in downtown Adairsville, where a
news crew for CNN affiliate WSB-TV witnessed a tornado form and touch down
Wednesday morning. The tornado destroyed a home and flipped several cars, the
station reported.

All lanes of Interstate 75 were blocked in both
directions at Adairsville, the Georgia Department of Transportation was
reporting.

The weather service also reported multiple buildings damaged
in Calhoun, Georgia.

One person died in Bartow County when a building
collapsed during the storm, Milsap said.

In Tennessee, a 47-year-old man
died early Wednesday when high winds toppled a tree onto the roof of his home in
Nashville, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said. Other injuries were
reported in Chester, McNairy and Henderson counties, spokesman Jeremy Heidt
said.

The National Weather Service also reported severe weather or damage
Wednesday in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana.

Southeast
Alabama, much of Georgia and parts of North Carolina and South Carolina were
under a tornado watch through 8 p.m. ET.

Earlier, in Alabama, the storms
blew the metal roof off a building in Sheffield, CNN affiliate WHNT said. The
storm also damaged a church steeple in Rogersville, the station
reported.

In Kentucky, winds blew off much of the roof of the Penrod
Missionary Baptist Church and damaged several homes, CNN affiliate WFIE
reported.

KFVS: Power outages from storms

In Nashville, the
weather service listed dozens of damage reports across the region: a funnel
cloud was reported early Wednesday in Jackson County, there were dozens of
reports of downed trees and power lines, and law enforcement reported damage to
homes and businesses.

CNN affiliate WSMV also reported the partial
collapse of an office building in Mount Juliet.

"I built it myself to
take an event like this. And it looks like a freight train hit it," the station
quoted building owner Dewey Lineberry as saying. "It's just destroyed. It laid
the building down on top of cars, it put the building on top of people. It's
unbelievable."

WFIE: Storms blow new roof off tri-state
church

Workers who were inside the building when the storm hit took cover
under mattresses, the station said.

The storm came dangerously close to
WSMV, the station reported: Workers had to move to a safe room when a buzzer in
the newsroom alerted them of storm danger around 4 a.m. (5 a.m. ET) Wednesday,
the station reported.

In Wilson County, Tennessee, strong winds damaged
four buildings, though it was not immediately known if it was the result of a
tornado, Emergency Management Director John Jewell told CNN.

WKRN:
Confirmed tornado

One family became trapped inside their mobile home and
were rescued, he said.

About 14,000 people in the country were without
power, Jewell added.

On Tuesday, the storms raked Arkansas, Louisiana and
Mississippi, among other places, with heavy rain and high wind.

William
Jones waited out the storm with his family inside their truck, CNN affiliate
KFSM reported.

"We pulled over and come to stop and about the same time
we stopped was when it started to cross the road about 100-150 yards ahead of
us," the station quoted him as saying. "We watched it tear out all the trees,
throw the debris in the road."

A large springlike storm system is pushing
severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and unstable conditions favorable for
tornadoes eastward through the Mississippi Valley.

Heavy gusts in excess
of 70 mph could bring significant damage. "I think it's definitely a dangerous
night and day," CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said as the front moved
in.

WBKO: Tractor trailer flips on I-65

Flood warnings and watches
speckled the weather map from Michigan to southern Louisiana. Many regions
should see heavy downpours, Cabrera said, but the front is not expected to stall
out and dump excessive amounts of precipitation in any particular
area.

The wet weather was predicted to trigger winter storms in the
northern Plains states. A freezing rain advisory is in effect for much of Iowa
and Wisconsin.