the school is gone. our church is gone. there s nothing. it is a scene that will play out over and over in the coming days. the death toll from the storms now stands at 339. thousands more are injured, missing or homeless. alabama today declared a day of prayer for the victims. the state suffered the greatest loss of life with about 250 people dead. federal officials today got firsthand looks at the destruction in mississippi and alabama. listen for them to struggle for words to describe what they saw. i ve had an opportunity now to walk a few of these streets, you know, i don t think words can fairly express the level of devastation here. i m not articulate enough to really express what i saw. a lot of people looked to fema when we see tragedies like this. look at the people standing up there on that street. your fire department, the police department, the first responders, many of whom have lost their homes, many of whom in the middle of the storm were going out helpi
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