we loved were moments away and were suffering and were dying. reporter: well, it wasn t long that they stood there. they immediately went to work. they began helping with the triage of caring for those who had been gravely injured and administering last rites to those who were on death s door. the death toll in this community now 15. perhaps not as significant as other death tolls in other places, but remember, this is a very small town, only 900 people. everybody knows everyone who died, everyone who was injured, and everyone who now is still suffering. and to that end, i had a conversation with liza morgan. her and her father run the cemetary, the only one, smithville cemetary. every tombstone in that cemetary knocked over but four. they have spent the last two days righting every stone, father and daughter, with the help of volunteers, clearing all the debris. and as you mentioned, fred, the first funerals will take place this afternoon, a husband and
she s just off camera here. they re trying to salvage what they can from this place. it s been a business 14 years. they plan and promise they will reopen. they just can t say exactly when that will be. for a lot of other people as you can see there isn t a whole lot that they can reclaim. there s not much at all as they try to sift through the pieces and pick up their lives. it is a day of faith sunday smithville at the baptist church. several hundred people gathered in the parking lot of that church because their house of worship was absolutely flattened as a result of the tornado that came through on wednesday. for many people it was a very emotional time. not just because the exact that they celebrate their faith but the fact they got to see one another again. this town has been dweeply divided and people have been spread all over as a result of the disaster that struck here. so it was a chance to come and, yes, celebrate. celebrate the fact that they were alive. there are some in
business in this small town of 900 people. 15 people lost their lives here. i had a conversation with liza morgan who knows everybody in this town, that includes the living and the dead. she was preparing graves of the patersons today. and that is eldon and laverne paterson. here s what she had to say. the patersons their grandson and i went to school together. and now i coach their daughter in softball. they will be greatly missed. they were a special, special couple. reporter: that s why this tragedy is so deeply felt here, don. it is so personal in so many ways to everybody here. martin savage in smithville, mississippi. thank you very much. across the midwest, spring time storms have left major rivers at or near record flood levels. and the confluence of the ohio