Several Die in Plains, Eastern Storms : Winter: Tornado cuts wide swath in central Florida. Mobile homes are heavily damaged. In North Carolina, 145-m.p.h. wind gusts kill two.

Fierce winter storms lashed much of the nation Saturday, while a tornado cut a 12-mile-long swath through central Florida, authorities said.

The tornado hit before dawn, killing one person, injuring dozens more and damaging or destroying scores of buildings and homes.

“There are pieces of trailers in trees,” said Marion County sheriff’s Lt. Joe Cobb. “Pieces of torn and twisted aluminum are all over the place. There are lawn chairs in trees. There’s a little bit of everything in trees.”

The twister touched down first in Summerfield, about 20 miles south of Ocala. It damaged or destroyed several homes and stores, Cobb said.

It sliced through pastures toward the northeast, leaving debris in a path a half-mile wide and 12 miles long, then smashed into the Bird Island mobile home park, where it did most of its damage, Cobb said.

One resident died late Saturday from injuries sustained when the twister picked up his mobile home and slammed it down on the car in which he had taken shelter.

About 150 mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Bird Island. “There just isn’t anything left but the concrete foundation of some,” Cobb said.

Property damage was estimated at $3 million, Cobb said.

Cobb estimated that 30 people were treated for broken bones, cuts and bruises. It took rescuers 45 minutes to free one woman from her mobile home after it was thrown 30 feet. Her injuries were not life-threatening, Cobb said.

Farther north, winds gusted up to 145 m.p.h. in North Carolina, killing two people and causing dozens of injuries and extensive damage.

In eastern North Carolina, about 20,000 homes lost power, Carolina Power & Light spokesman Mike Hughes said.

One person was killed in Bladen County and another in Johnston County, state officials said.

Saturday’s rough weather was part of a storm system that iced roads from the Plains to the East Coast and was blamed for deaths in several states.

In the Carolinas and Virginia, five motorists were killed as freezing rain caused hundreds of accidents.

In Spartanburg, S.C., police said one man died after ice caused a 15-vehicle pileup. Police said he was hit by a truck as he stood beside a car he had struck in the pileup.

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Two drivers were killed in Virginia when their vehicles skidded off icy roads, state police said.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reported two traffic fatalities since Friday afternoon and said at least one was due to icy roads.

Six weather-related traffic deaths were reported in Ohio.