Giant spring storms have been sweeping across several states from New England to the Gulf of Mexico, causing extensive property damage and killing at least seven people.

Some states saw 80-mile-an-hour winds, torrential rain, and hail.  In addition, the National Weather Service was investigating reports of at least 20 possible tornadoes.

A tornado in Dickson, Tenn., sent Stacey Hood and his family running for cover.

"You could hear it rip it off, and water started pouring in on the ceiling everywhere," Hood recalled.

One 87-year-old Memphis man lost his life after stepping on a downed power line while trying to clear storm debris from his home,Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials said.

A Mississippi driver, unable to see through the pouring rain, ran his truck into a fallen tree.

"The young man that was in it was pretty much killed on impact. That's the best we can tell at this point," one bystander said.

Texas, which is currently undergoing a drought, was also hit with severe thunderstorms. The wet weather did little, however, to alleviate the dry spell.

"This could end up being one of the more devastating droughts, agriculturally speaking and for wildfires, if we don't start getting normal to above normal rainfall before June," National Weather Service meteorologist Victor Murphy said. "The odds of seeing that are likely below normal."
  
Meanwhile, seven employees at Toyoda Gosei Automotive Sealing in Kentucky were injured when a tornado tore the building apart.

Monday night in Georgia, the brutal weather caused the deaths of two people and at least 150,000 homes lost power.

Atlanta firefighters rescued Howell Ragsdale from near death after a tree crashed through his bedroom.

"You know I was just lucky because it would have killed me if it would have fallen on me, I am sure," Ragsdale said.