Eight of the deaths were in Sumner County, north of Nashville, said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Randy Harris, and three others in Warren County southeast of Nashville. No further details were immediately available.

As evening arrived, severe weather began to batter states farther south, as well.

Multiple tornado warnings continued to bloom Friday night across Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia. Previously, warnings were issued in Ohio, Indiana and Louisiana.

Forecasters said there is a 60 percent probability of a tornado in the area encompassing northeast Mississippi, northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.

Last Sunday, violent storms and tornadoes killed at least 27 people, 23 of them in northwestern Tennessee, and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings. Three people died in Missouri and another in Illinois. Damage was reported in eight states.

CNN