Nashville, Tenn. ? A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes marched across the South on Friday, peeling away roofs, overturning cars and killing at least 11 people in Tennessee, officials said.

It was the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week. Last weekend, thunderstorms and tornadoes killed 24 people in the the state and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings.

The storms raked an area from northern Mississippi to northern Virginia as they moved to the northeast late Friday after developing from a low-pressure system in the central Plains.

The Nashville suburbs were the hardest hit, with at least eight deaths happening northeast of the city. Three more people were killed in a rural area about 65 miles southeast of Nashville.

Fire Chief Joe Womack said three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in a subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of the city.

Tornadoes were also reported in the Nashville suburbs of Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and Ashland City, and in Holladay, about 90 miles west of Nashville. The storms flattened trees, knocked down power lines and damaged homes and other buildings.

Spotty communications made it difficult for emergency responders to get a full picture of the damage. Phone lines to authorities and most businesses were out of service.

Steve Miles salvages some belongings at a storm-damaged home in Charlotte, Tenn., Friday, April 7, 2006. Miles volunteered to help people in the area. A line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes marched across the nation's midsection Friday, peeling away roofs, overturning cars and killing at least seven people in Tennessee, officials said.

Hospitals admitted at least 60 people with storm-related injuries and transferred at least nine critically injured patients to Nashville hospitals.

At Volunteer State Community College in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin, several people suffered cuts and scratches, spokesman Eric Melcher said.

Two campus buildings were severely damaged, Melcher said. Emergency workers searched other buildings in an attempt to account for all students.

Three car dealerships near the college were devastated, with 250 cars totaled.

In Cheatham County, just west of Nashville, Sheriff John Holder said the tornado passed over his office.

“I looked up and you can’t believe the stuff that was in the air,” he said.

A tower that held the tornado warning siren was destroyed in Ashland City.

In Kentucky, two homes were destroyed, possibly by a tornado.

In southern Indiana, the storms pelted some areas with golf ball-sized hail. High winds blew the roof off a country club and toppled a semitrailer.

As the storms moved farther east, parts of West Virginia were lashed with heavy rain and winds, blowing the roofs off businesses and sending trees crashing into houses.