US President Joe Biden proclaimed a state of emergency in Mississippi after a tornado ripped across the area, killing at least 26 people.
The designation will make federal funds accessible to Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties, which were the hardest hit by Friday’s catastrophic hurricane.
Rescue personnel are still digging through the debris of collapsed buildings, with dozens injured and hundreds displaced.
When it ripped through numerous towns on its hour-long route, the huge storm left a trail of devastation in one of the poorest areas of the United States.
Winds pulled a spire off a church and toppled a municipal water tower, flattening entire streets and obliterating buildings.
In Alabama, one guy died after his caravan home overturned numerous times.
Even as the recovery process begins, the risk of additional severe weather, like as high winds, huge hailstones, and the threat of more tornadoes, persists in eastern Louisiana, south central Mississippi, and south central Alabama.
The tornado reached winds of up to 200 mph, according to National Weather Service statistics.
In the dark, people are yelling for aid.
“I have no idea how anyone survived,” said Rodney Porter, who lives 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of Rolling Fork.
When the storm came on Friday night, he drove there right away to help in any way he could.
He arrived to discover “complete devastation,” smelled gas, and heard people yelling for help in the dark.
“Houses are gone,” he added, “houses heaped on top of homes with automobiles on top of that.”
Annette Body drove from nearby Belozi to the hard-hit village of Silver City to assess the devastation.
She described herself as “fortunate” because her own home was not damaged, although others she knew lost everything.
“Cried last night, cried this morning,” she said, looking around at flattened homes.
“They said you needed to take cover, but everything happened so fast that many people didn’t even get a chance.”
On Saturday, storm survivors walked around, many confused and in shock, breaking through densely clustered debris and fallen trees with chainsaws in search of anyone stranded.
