Several US Christian music artists are shocked after a tornado ripped through Nashville, Tennessee leaving at least 25 people dead. 

The twisters that struck in the hours after midnight local time on Monday shredded more than 140 buildings and buried people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements.

The storms moved so quickly that many people in their path could not flee to safer areas.

Christian singer-song writer Kari Jobe said she was devastated in an Instagram post and encouraged all those impacted to contact her local church. 

Meanwhile, Christian band Tenth Avenue North said they all live in East Nashville and felt their windows shake. 

For King and Country and Steven Curtis Chapman said they were praying for all those who were faced by the devastation. 

The governor declared an emergency and sent the National Guard to the county to help with search-and-rescue efforts.

Early findings by National Weather Service survey teams indicated that the damage in Nashville and Wilson County to the east was inflicted by a tornado of at least EF-3 intensity, the agency said.

One twister wrecked homes and businesses across a 10-mile stretch of Nashville that included parts of downtown.

It smashed more than three dozen buildings, including destroying the tower and stained glass of a historic church.

Daybreak revealed landscapes littered with blown-down walls and roofs, snapped power lines and huge broken trees, making many city streets and rural roads impassable.

Schools, courts, transit lines and an airport were closed. More than a dozen polling stations were also damaged, forcing Super Tuesday voters to wait in long lines at alternative sites.