Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee early Tuesday, shredding at least 40 buildings and killing at least eight people. One of the twisters caused severe damage in downtown Nashville.
Daybreak revealed a landscape littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, leaving city streets in gridlock.
Schools, courts, transit lines, an airport and the state capitol were closed, and some damaged polling stations were moved only hours before Super Tuesday voting was set to begin.
Residents of the historic Germantown neighborhood walked around in dismay as emergency crews closed off roads.
Roofs had been torn off apartment buildings, large trees had been uprooted and debris littered many of the sidewalks.
"A tornado skipped across the county," Nashville Mayor John Cooper told the Tennessean while visiting an emergency shelter early Tuesday.
"You do have people at the hospital and frankly there have been fatalities."
We continue to search for injured. Stay home if you can."