Neighbors gather among destroyed pine trees in Magee, Miss., to check on each other's welfare and survey damage to their homes and property following an early morning tornado which struck their community, Thursday, March 26, 2009. Severe weather across the South unleashed tornadoes in rural Mississippi, including one that shattered dozens of homes, flattened a church and injured at least 17 people.
Stephanie Hankins, right, and her son Matt Hankins, left, survey the tornado damage to a bedroom in Magee, Miss., Thursday, March 26, 2009.
A morning tornado in Magee, Miss., destroyed a mobile home and crushed two vehicles outside the building, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Residents of the Pecan Grove subdivision in Magee, Miss., survey damage to their homes and property following an early morning tornado which struck their community, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Utility trucks hold up power lines over US 49 in Magee Miss., where an early morning tornado knocked out power, destroyed homes and injured some area residents Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Magee, Miss., emergency personnel survey damage to the Corinth Baptist Church following a hit by an early morning tornado which also destroyed several homes and businesses, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Members of the Corinth Baptist Church of Magee, Miss., salvage church paintings from the damaged structure following an early morning tornado which struck their community, Thursday, March 26, 2009. The church and fellowship hall were destroyed and some of the tombstones were knocked over during the storm.
Corinth Baptist Church secretary Susan Dupree of Magee, Miss., struggles with a church painting she rescued from the wreckage after an early morning tornado destroyed the church and a number of businesses and homes, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Residents and members of the Corinth Baptist Church of Magee, Miss., survey damage to the church following an early morning tornado which struck their community, Thursday, March 26, 2009.
Traffic is slowed on MS 28 west of Magee, Miss. Thursday, March 26, 2009, after a tornado knocked down power lines and trees.
Area residents survey damage at Corinth Baptist Church west of Magee, Miss., after a tornado almost leveled the structure early Thursday morning, March 26, 2009.