Sifting through piles of garbage, some residents looked for anything salvageable, or even something of sentimental value they could hold on to.
Checking out the damage, friends and neighbors in Louisville were still trying to sort things out. "Utter chaos," is how one person described the scene.
Stevie Herrington, a 37-year-old forestry teacher, was counting his blessings to be alive, despite his home totaled. "God is good," he said Wednesday. "I thought I was in bad shape but my neighbors literally have nothing left."
One of the heartbreaking stories included a daycare that was destroyed, killing one of its workers who died clutching a 4-year-old girl, who survived.
Some even rode their bikes over and found a convenient, if not sobering reminder, of the storm that hit 48 hours earlier.
The activity around destroyed houses on Wednesday was brisk, as neighbors and friends from unscathed parts of town came over to lend a hand wherever they could.
Downed power lines were a common site in Louisville.
Huge trees were severed, some completely uprooted, and houses left as a skeleton of what they once were—just three days ago.
Some were still in shock, but many Louisville residents were thanking Jesus after Monday's monster mile-wide tornado passed. "Just praised God that I'm still alive," one resident said.
Just picking up the debris and belongings strewn out in people's yards seemed insurmountable in Winston County, which has suffered great damage and at least nine confirmed deaths. Some residents talked about "finally starting to regroup."
Rapid Response Team chaplains Al and Toni New, along with Mike and Pookie Mattingly, pray with two Louisville, Miss., residents outside the RRT Mobile Command Center on Wednesday afternoon. You can help give the hope and love of Christ by praying for and supporting this chaplaincy ministry at BillyGraham.org/Response.
Sections of houses were snapped off, laying in yards and driveways. Police and other first responders circled the neighborhoods and kept guard in some of the dangerous areas, power lines dotting some of the roads.
