MADISONVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Nearly three dozen tornadoes ripped through the U.S. Midwest, part of a huge line of thunderstorms that destroyed homes and killed at least two people.

"We heard a weird sound coming through, kind of a whistle," said Penny Leonard, 37, who sought shelter in the basement of a hospital Tuesday in the western Kentucky town of Madisonville. "I thank God I'm safe."

Meteorologists said a cold front moving rapidly east collided with warm, unstable air from the south on Tuesday to produce the thunderstorms that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, spawning funnel clouds and tornadoes in parts of Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee.

There were preliminary reports of at least 35 tornadoes, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said on its website.

It was the third outbreak of twisters this month. One tornado on Nov. 6 killed 23 people in southern Indiana, and nine tornadoes struck Iowa on Saturday, killing one woman.

Roofs of homes were caved in and entire buildings were blown off foundations in parts of Madisonville on Tuesday.

One storm-related death was reported in Madisonville, but details weren't available, said Lori King, public information officer for the Marshall County Emergency Management Services. Twenty-two people were treated for injuries, said Jayne Barton, a spokeswoman for the Regional Medical Center in Madisonville.

Along with tornadoes, thunderstorms in Indiana produced wind of more than 160 kilometres an hour and as much as five centimetres of rain, causing scattered flooding, said meteorologist Jason Puma at the weather service in Indianapolis.

A teenager was killed when her car went out of control on a flooded road and overturned east of Indianapolis.

In Tennessee, Henry County's emergency officials had to scramble for shelter when their office was struck by a tornado.

The Henry County Medical Center treated 13 people and admitted two with non-life-threatening injuries.

In Tennessee's Montgomery County, four mobile homes, a camper and two houses were destroyed at Cunningham, just south of Clarksville.

"It looks like a war zone," said Ted Denny, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department.

At the colder northern end of the storm system, snow fell across parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday. homes, a camper and two houses were destroyed at Cunningham, just south of Clarksville.

"It looks like a war zone," said Ted Denny, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department.

At the colder northern end of the storm system, snow fell across parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday. At least three people were killed in crashes on slippery Minnesota roads on Tuesday, police said.