At least 27 killed by storms that devoured buildings

Dozens of people were hospitalized, many in critical condition.
NEWBERN, Tenn. (AP) -- Tornadoes shredded homes to their foundations, hail tore holes in the rooftops and high winds toppled even freight cars as a line of violent storms cut zigzagging paths of destruction that killed at least 27 people across the nation's midsection.
The worst damage from Sunday night's storms occurred along a 25-mile swath of rural western Tennessee, where 23 of the deaths occurred and state troopers using dogs searched for more victims amid the rubble of brick buildings and toppled trailers.
"Most of the houses, you can't count. They're just gone," said Roy Childress, who was part of a church relief crew that was delivering food and water to survivors Monday.
The dead included an infant and the grandparents who had been babysitting him. A young couple and their two sons, ages 5 and 3, were also killed, their bodies found 800 yards from their house.
"It basically took my life away. I don't really care if I see daylight tomorrow," said Larry Taylor, the boys' grandfather and the only funeral director in rural Bradford. He was planning to bury the family in two separate coffins, with each child alongside one of his parents.
"I'd give everything I had for that not to have happened,' he said through tears. "Those little boys were my life."
Other areas
Severe storms also struck parts of Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Strong winds were blamed for at least three deaths in Missouri. A clothing store collapsed in southern Illinois, killing one man.
In Arkansas, Logan Hawley tried to escape by driving with a group of other people to a tornado shelter.
"We couldn't see anything," Hawley said. "It was just brown in front of us." The car crashed at an intersection, so the six people inside had no choice but to sit terrified as the tornado passed.
"I just closed by eyes and hoped it was a dream," he said.
The brunt of the storms, some packing softball-sized hail, blasted an area between the small town of Newbern, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis, to Bradford.
Officials estimated 1,200 buildings were damaged in Gibson County, where eight people were killed and 17 others hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Gov. Phil Bredesen asked President Bush to declare Dyer and Gibson counties federal disaster areas.
"Our first priority is helping those impacted to get back on their feet quickly and to bring back a sense of normalcy at a time when they need it most," said Bredesen, who planned to visit the area today.
The Tennessee Valley Authority estimated that more than 15,000 customers were without power at midday Monday.
What caused this
The storms developed after a cold front approaching from the West slammed into a mass of warm, humid air, said Memphis meteorologist Jody Aaron. A tornado in Dyer County apparently had winds of 158 to 206 mph.
The weather service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it had preliminary reports of 63 tornadoes.
About a half-dozen tornadoes struck Arkansas and one destroyed nearly half the town of Marmaduke, according to a fire department official. Authorities cordoned off the town after a gas line ruptured, and three people remained unaccounted for Monday.
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