In the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes tore off roofs, overturned cars and left 11 people dead.

While families of Sunday's tornado victims in the western counties of Dyer and Gibson planned funerals for this weekend, many residents of Sumner County began picking through newly flattened homes and mangled cars.

The storm leveled at least five houses in the neighborhood to their hardwood floors. Aerial TV footage showed a tornado carved a destructive path, with serious damage to dozens more homes.

Fire crews worked Friday evening with backhoes and heavy equipment to clear debris and used dogs to search for people trapped in the rubble.

Weather officials said tornadoes were spotted in about 10 Tennessee counties, but the worst damage appeared to be in the suburbs northeast of Nashville.

Eight people died in Sumner County and three deaths were reported in Warren County, about 65 miles southeast of Nashville. Warren County Executive Kenneth Rogers said the people killed there were found inside destroyed mobile homes.

Hospitals admitted at least 60 people with storm-related injuries and transferred at least nine critically injured patients to Nashville hospitals. Hendersonville Medical Center, south of Gallatin, was running on emergency power after the storm and admitted 20 patients.

Nashville Electrical Service reported hundreds of electrical lines down and power outages for up to 16,000 customers, mostly in Goodlettsville. The number of power outages was down to 3,060 early Saturday, officials said.

The number of tornadoes in the United States has jumped dramatically through the first part of 2006 compared with the past few years, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.

Through the end of March, an estimated 286 tornadoes had hit the United States, compared with an average of 70 for the same three-month period in each of the past three years.

The number of tornado-related deaths was 38 before Friday's storms. The average number of deaths from 2003 to 2005 was 45 a year, the prediction center said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Pieces of building material litter the area near the front of the Metro Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, Tenn., Friday, April 7, 2006, after a tornado hit the area. (AP)

AP (summarized)