22 people are dead and numerous homes are damaged after a tornado tore through Tennessee overnight

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNN) — At least 22 people have died across central Tennessee as a result of severe storms and at least one tornado that raked Nashville and the region late Monday and early Tuesday, officials said.

The storms left numerous homes and other buildings in ruins across several counties, and left tens of thousands of people without power and hundreds at least temporarily looking for another place to live.

In Nashville, dozens of buildings were damaged, and more than 150 people have been taken to hospitals because of the storm, city Fire Chief William Swann said.

In Nashville’s Germantown area alone, parts of apartment and other multi-story buildings were ripped open, with bricks, roofing material and glass strewn about, images from CNN affiliate WTVF show.

“As tragic as this is — and our hearts are broken — we are certain that we’ll surround these folks and we’ll do what is necessary” to recover, Gov. Bill Lee said.

The Cookeville area in Putnam County, some 80 miles east of Nashville, was especially hard hit. These deaths have been reported, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency:

• 16 in Putnam County

• Three in Wilson County

• Two in Davidson County, which includes Nashville

• One in Benton County

Tornadoes were reported several times along a 145-mile stretch, including in the small city of Camden just after 11 p.m. CT; in Nashville after midnight; and in the Cookeville area in Putnam County shortly before 2 a.m., the National Weather Service said.

“We all worry about some people being left in some buildings that have been damaged and I know the first responders are working their way through that problem,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper told WTVF.

In Nashville’s Germantown area, scraps of wood and metal lined the street as people stood outside in their pajamas with their pets surveying the damage.

A resident of the area who didn’t give her name told WTVF the tornado woke her up as it ripped the roof off part of her building.

“It just woke you out of your sleep,” she said. “I’m lucky my side didn’t get torn off. The other side is totally torn off.”

“When you’re inside it’s one thing, but to walk outside and see this, it’s bad,” the woman told the affiliate.

Country music artist Taylor Hicks, a Nashville resident and Season 5 winner of “American Idol” in 2006, told HLN that a tornado damaged homes near his Germantown neighborhood.

“There’s homes leveled. There’s churches that have been hit by this. There’s been a lot of people that’s been affected in downtown Nashville. It’s been a rough night,” Hicks said.

Officers who specialize in urban search and rescue are being called in, Nashville police said. Rescuers are focusing their efforts in Germantown, East Nashville and Hermitage, according to Joseph Pleasant, spokesman with the Nashville Office of Emergency Management.

President Trump said he intended to visit Tennessee on Friday; details weren’t immediately released.

“We send our love and our prayers of the nation to every family that was affected, and … we will recover and will rebuild,” Trump said Tuesday at National Association of Counties conference in Washington.

Homes are destroyed in Mt. Juliet, near Nashville
It wasn’t immediately clear how many tornadoes struck the region. Initial surveys indicated EF-3 tornado damage (136-165 mph) in Nashville’s Donelson neighborhood and in Mt. Juliet, 20 miles east of Nashville, the weather service said.

The same tornado might have hit both areas, the weather service said.

WTVF reported extensive damage in the Donelson neighborhood.

In Mt. Juliet, the storm tore apart homes and other buildings, obliterating their roofs and scattering debris across yards, aerial video from CNN affiliate WSMV showed.

A tornado that came from Nashville area entered Wilson County, where Mt. Juliet is, and appeared to have stayed on the ground as it traversed the county eastward near Interstate 40, Wilson County Emergency Management Director Joey Cooper said.

Several subdivisions were destroyed, and hundreds of people in Wilson County have been displaced, Cooper said.

An unspecified number of people were injured in Mt. Juliet, and police are searching for others who might be hurt, police said.

Schools in Wilson County will be closed for the rest of the week because of storm damage, the county sheriff’s office said. The storm flattened parts of West Wilson Middle School, video from WSMV showed.

Further to the east, a tornado wreaked havoc in Putnam County, where so far most of the deaths have been reported.

A tornado touched down between the cities of Cookeville and Baxter, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department said. Some of the worst hit areas are in Charleton Square, Plunk Whitson, Echo Valley and Prosperity Point, the department said.

“We have multiple homes that have been destroyed … some of the roads are impassable,” Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said.

Search and rescue teams are trying to inspect damaged homes “to make sure we haven’t missed anyone,” Porter said.

Voting delayed one hour in Davidson and Wilson counties
The storms came as Tennessee prepared to join other states for Super Tuesday presidential primary voting.

In Davidson County, where Nashville is, and Wilson County, voting was delayed one hour because of the storms, officials said.

At least 50,100 power outages were reported statewide early Tuesday, according to poweroutage.us, with more than 47,000 reported by Nashville Electric Service.

Metro Nashville Public Schools are closed due to tornado damage throughout the city, the district said. Election polling sites at school facilities will be open unless otherwise noted, according to the notice.

Non-essential Nashville government offices will be closed along with Nashville schools Tuesday, and several shelters in the area have been opened for displaced people, the Nashville Emergency Operations Center said.

John C. Tune Airport in West Nashville also “sustained significant damage,” according to a tweet from Nashville International Airport, which did not suffer any apparent damage.

The Airport Authority has activated the Emergency Operations Center, and the public has been advised to stay away from the airport until further notice, the tweet said.

Severe weather still possible across the South
Strong to severe storms still are possible across parts of the South on Tuesday, including Texas, North Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Nighttime tornadoes are not unusual in the Southeast, where tornado season extends into the winter months, when daylight is shorter.