Storms Pound Southeast With Tornadoes, Rain : Weather: Floodwaters drive hundreds from their homes. Heavy snow blitzes Midwestern states.

Tornadoes and high winds wrecked houses in the Southeast on Friday as thunderstorms roamed from Florida north to Pennsylvania, swamping towns, sending creeks surging beyond their banks and driving hundreds of people from their homes.

At least one death was reported, and one person was missing as rescue workers broke out rubber rafts, boats and even a helicopter to extricate threatened Southern residents from danger.

Seven snow-related highway deaths were reported as up to 18 inches of new snow fell on parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

A cold front colliding with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico stirred up the stormy weather across the Southeast, sending twisters rampaging into Cooper, Daleville and Ft. Rucker, Ala., Irmo, S.C., and Carrollton, Ga., the National Weather Service said.

“One house was actually blown off the foundation and moved to the center of the street,” a rescue worker said in Carrollton, where 15 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Ten people were hospitalized.

The weather service posted three separate tornado watches late Friday from Georgia to New York and warned that more severe thunderstorms were possible elsewhere along the East Coast. Gusts to 63 m.p.h. accompanied a thunderstorm roving over Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

More than 10 inches of rain pelted Summerville, Ga., forcing dozens of evacuations. Flooding was also reported in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Swirling waters spilling from the Ocoee River rose to the second story of buildings in Copperhill, Tenn., where rescue workers used rubber rafts to remove 15 stranded people. As many as 150 people fled from floodwaters that authorities said reached 18 feet in spots.

The Tennessee Valley Authority sent a helicopter to rescue six employees trapped at a station on the banks of the Ocoee that was swamped with four feet of water.

Heavy rain overwhelmed a dam on the Chattooga River at Trion in northwest Georgia, forcing the evacuation of schools, homes and businesses. As many as 1,000 people had to be moved.

A man walking along the banks of a river about two miles north of the flooded dam was missing after being swept into the current.

High winds and rains struck central Alabama before dawn, injuring at least six people and forcing more than 250 from their homes. Secondary roads and bridges were under water and schools were closed in at least 13 counties.

A man operating a fish farm along the French Broad River was swept away in floodwaters while checking his hatchery, Transylvania County officials said. His body was found downstream.

A stretch of U.S. Highway 64 and a segment of Interstate 40 were shut down, and rockslides and floodwaters closed seven bridges in Clay County, N.C.

A winter storm hit portions of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Up to 12 inches of snow was forecast in Michigan, more than 3,000 people lost power in the Detroit area, and many schools were closed statewide. At least two Michigan traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

Minnesota’s Iron Range--with at least 10 inches of new snow and more coming down--reported at least five weather-related traffic deaths Thursday and Friday. Up to 18 inches of snow blitzed northern Wisconsin, freezing rain hit the south and some areas got both.

A two-day ice storm in northern Ohio left 12,000 Toledo Edison Co. customers without power.

Freezing rain fell across Massachusetts, closing the Green Line train from Boston’s western suburbs into the city. Buses enabled commuters to get to work.

Ice-coated Massachusetts highways caused dozens of accidents, including an eight- to 10-car chain reaction pileup in Canton, state police said.

“It was a complete horror show,” state police Cpl. Joseph Howley said.