Newbern, Tenn. ? 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 caskets, 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.”

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.

Lisa Scott takes in the devistation of her home on Monday, April 3, 2006 in Millsfield, Tenn. The power of the storm ripped the clothes and jewelry off Scott and her husband, Jimmy Scott, before picking them up and throwing them about 50 yards leaving them with bruises and stitches but able to walk away. The deadly storm has been blamed for 23 deaths in Tennessee.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said more than 1,000 buildings were seriously damaged or destroyed and about 75 people injured, 17 of them critically. He 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 18,000 customers in Tennessee and Kentucky were without power Monday.

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.