At least 55 people are dead and hundreds injured after tornadoes ripped through the southern U.S., tossing vehicles like toys and tearing through homes.

"It lasted about five to 10 minutes and it sounded like a train," said survivor Tory Dunnan. "Next thing I know, I go outside and my house is turned upside down. I've lost everything."

Hardest hit were sections of Tennessee, where at least 30 died. Some reports put the total number of tornadoes across the region as high as 69.

Reporter Tony Reed, of Tennessee's Jackson Sun, has been covering the devastation firsthand and described the scene at Union College, where 13 students were trapped inside crushed dormitories, to CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.

"We started off the day thinking maybe we'd be missed and then later last night it happened," said Reed. "The dorms are gone. There is no place for these students to stay. We are very blessed that no students lost their lives."

CNN's Sean Callebs, also reporting from Jackson, said at least six tornadoes touched down shortly after dark on Tuesday.

"They know that the swath that the tornado carved through was only a couple of kilometres wide," Callebs told CTV's Canada AM. "That's significant because that shows it was a very compact storm, very powerful.

"The big concern is that this storm hit at dark and they simply haven't been able to get out to all areas to make sure everyone has been accounted for," said Callebs.

The Jackson Sun also reported a nursing home was seriously damaged but the 114 residents were evacuated safely.

In Memphis, the roof of a Sears store collapsed after being struck by high winds. In Hartsville, Tenn., a tornado struck the Columbia Gulf Transmission company and set off a natural gas fire that lit up the early morning sky, officials said.

Meanwhile, in Atkins, Ark. -- located northwest of Little Rock -- two parents and their 11-year-old child were confirmed dead.

The family died after their home "took a direct hit" from the storm, said Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout.

"Neighbors and friends who were there said, 'There used to be a home there,'" Krout said.

So far, 13 deaths have been reported in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky, and four in Alabama. No deaths have been reported in Mississippi, despite funnel clouds that shredded warehouses into matchsticks at an industrial park in the city of Southaven -- located south of Memphis.

Injuries were widespread, with 149 people injured in Tennessee alone.

Kentucky calls National Guard

According to Kentucky National Guard spokesman David Altom, about 50 National Guard soldiers were deployed in two areas in the state and others were put on stand-by.

"This is a horrible situation," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who ordered the troops' assistance. "The mission right now is to protect the damaged homes from looting."

The twisters were part of a line of storms that struck as Super Tuesday primaries were wrapping up in Arkansas and Tennessee. Several of the candidates -- including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee -- paused to remember the victims of the storms.

The White House said President Bush had placed phone calls to the governors of the affected states offering them consolation and support.

System heads toward Alabama

The system travelled east to Alabama on Wednesday, carrying with it heavy rains and strong winds, battering counties northwest of Birmingham. There were at least two reports of tornadoes, and the National Weather Service posted tornado watches for parts of southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and western Georgia.

The peak tornado season is from late winter to mid-summer but winter tornadoes are not uncommon. However, those of this magnitude are very unusual at any time of year, Roger Edwards of the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. told AP.

Tornadoes typically kill about 70 people in the United States each year.

Recent studies have found a higher risk of tornadoes in the southern U.S. during a La Nina winter. La Nina is the cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean.

Tornadoes were also reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin on Jan. 8.

With files from CTV's Joy Malbon and The Associated Press