Severe storms fades after whacking Midwest, South

(CNN) -- A powerful storm that swept across the country this week was on its way to the North Atlantic on Friday, leaving rain, snow and at least three deaths in its wake.

At one point, the line of storms stretched from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It dumped snow in the north-central and northeastern United States and torrential rain in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and brought tornadoes in the Deep South.

Three people were killed in separate incidents in Missouri, Mississippi and Nebraska.

A woman froze to death after her car broke down near Berea, Nebraska, when a blizzard struck Monday, state police said. Her son survived, but suffered frostbite and hypothermia, and was at a local hospital.

An employee for Ameren Missouri was electrocuted Thursday while attempting to restore power after storms, the company said.

In Mississippi, one person died when a tornado destroyed a steel building along a highway in Kemper County, on the Alabama border, on Thursday, the National Weather Service said. It rated the storm an EF3, meaning the tornado had winds of between 136 and 165 mph and was capable of severe damage.

Five people were hurt across Mississippi, state emergency management agency said. At least seven counties in Mississippi and four in Alabama suffered damage, officials said.

Georgia's emergency management agency reported trees down in several counties Thursday night.

A weak tornado snapped large limbs and caused power outages around Slidell on Louisiana's Gulf coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency after storms pummeled the St. Louis area and other parts of the state Wednesday night. The National Weather Service said an EF2 tornado, with winds of between 111 and 135 mph, was responsible for damage to more than 100 homes, according to the governor's website.

Arkansas also was hard hit, prompting Gov. Mike Beebe to declare 15 counties state disaster areas.