ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Kandi Cash trudged in rain through the splintered debris of her grandparents' home, hoping to salvage photos and other keepsakes after violent storms raked the Southeast, leaving two people dead before the vast storm front moved on to pummel the East Coast.

The demolished home was one of many in the Georgia city of Adairsville splintered by a massive storm front that punched across the Southeast on Wednesday and then began heading over the densely populated Eastern seaboard early Thursday.

Along a path pocked by shattered homes and businesses, the storm unleashed tornadoes and dangerous winds, easily flipping cars and trucks in Georgia. The heavy rains moving across the East Coast also raised flash flood fears and forced water rescues in Virginia and Maryland near the nation's capital.