Powerful storms kill 3 as tornadoes tear through central and southeastern US. Severe storms are tearing through the central and southeast U.S., spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and another in North Carolina. Wednesday afternoon, a tornado emergency was issued for an area south of Nashville. That is the National Weather Service’s highest alert level. The weather service says at least eight tornadoes touched down Tuesday in Ohio, including five in the state’s southwest region. Weather service meteorologist in Michigan Nathan Jeruzal says that the three confirmed tornadoes there had touched down in the southwestern part of the state.