Multiple tornadoes and rains lashed the southeastern United States leaving 35 dead, hundreds missing and entire communities flattened in their wake. "We're right now holding at 17 fatalities with 60 hospitalized, three of them life threatening," said Cecil Whaley, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. "One hundred fifty people are still missing primarily in Anderson County and Mossy County areas which are very isolated, rural areas with no electricity and no telephones so we're having a hard time matching people," he said in Nashville. Tennessee was one of the hardest-hit states, with cars flipped over and houses reduced to rubble. Tornadoes are some of nature's most violent storms. Spinning winds often surpassing 300 kilometers (200 miles) an hour and are common in the flatter US states.