Tornadoes in U.S. South kill at least 55

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Tornadoes andthunderstorms shattered lives and levelled buildings across theU.S. South on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 55 peopleand injuring more than 150 in the deadliest such storms in nineyears.

In Tennessee's Sumner County, northeast of Nashville, atornado sucked an 11-month-old boy and his mother from theirhome. They were found later in a field. The child survived ingood condition, but his mother was dead.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said he was shocked by theintensity and scope of a storm that "just literally sat on theground in wide areas" along a track that was as much as 400miles (643 km) wide.

At Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Ferina Ferrington tolda local TV reporter: "My husband and I got into the bathtubwith our little girl. I remember flying through the air. It wasvery scary. Then it was real quiet and we saw our house wasgone. Our baby was unhurt."

President George W. Bush will travel to Tennessee on Fridayto survey the storm damage and offer his support to thoseaffected, said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

In Arkansas, where almost 500 homes and businesses weredestroyed or heavily damaged in four counties, Johnny Martin,65, gathered belongings from his brick and wood home that layshattered beneath massive oak trees in the town of Atkins, westof Little Rock.

"We all huddled in the bathroom," Martin said of his wife,mother-in-law and other family members. "I was standing atfirst at the front door when I heard it. ... The Lord was withus."

Hardest hit were Tennessee -- where 31 people died --Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama. There wereunconfirmed reports of 69 tornadoes swirling across thosestates and northward into Indiana, according to the NationalStorm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

The death toll rivalled that of a series of tornadoes inMay 1999 in Oklahoma, Texas and other states, when about 50people were killed, the center said. Tornadoes typically killabout 70 people in the United States each year.

TRAIL OF DEVASTATION

The weather service and state officials said that inaddition to the 31 killed in Tennessee, there were 13 dead inArkansas, seven in Kentucky and four in Alabama. Injuries werewidespread, with 149 people hurt in Tennessee alone.

"We know of eight dead and are still looking," said ShelvyLinville, mayor of Lafayette, Tennessee. "There's a lot ofdevastation."

Power outages were widespread. One tornado struck theColumbia Gulf Transmission company in Hartsville, Tennessee,and set off a natural gas fire that lit up the early morningsky, officials said.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear described to CNN a trail ofdevastation in his state seen from the air.

"In the path of it there is nothing left and on either sideof it things are standing just like nothing has happened. It'san amazing picture to see."

Inspection of the damage began midmorning on Wednesday,with the last tornado reported a few hours earlier in JacksonCounty, northeastern Alabama, the weather service said. Late inthe day, forecasters said there was no longer a threat ofsevere weather across the region.

In Alabama, Tina Johnson, 41, of Pinhook, said she watchedfrom her house as a tornado tore apart her barn.

"The lightning and rain started back up suddenly and thenwe could see the funnel cloud through the lightning," she said."The preacher's brick house across the street was destroyed anda mobile home nearby was nothing but a few pieces of tin."

Kentucky National Guard spokesman David Altom said about 50soldiers were deployed and others on stand-by. "The missionright now is to protect the damaged homes from looting," hesaid.

Mississippi reported no deaths but about 11 injuries aftertwo tornadoes ripped across an industrial park, seriouslydamaging a Caterpillar factory, and farm communities north ofthe University of Mississippi campus in Oxford.

In Jackson, Tennessee, a tornado damaged most of thestudent housing at Union University, injuring more than 50students, although none of the injuries was life-threatening.It was the third time in less than a decade a twister struckthe school.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cotton in Jackson, Tenn.Ed Stoddard in Dallas, Doina Chiacu in Washington, MichaelConlon in Chicago, Verna Gates and Peggy Gargis in Birmingham,Steve Barnes in Atkins, Ark., and Matt Spetalnick inWashington; Writing by Mike Conlon; Editing by Cynthia Ostermanand Peter Cooney)