(Photo: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

Severe weather and tornadoes rampaged through six Southern states on Sunday and Monday, leaving massive damages in its wake.

Southern state residents were enjoying a leisurely Easter Sunday listening to an audio feed of their church service when as many as 60 tornadoes roared over Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana. At the same time, storms hit Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. 

The two-day destruction lefts hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power amid the public health crisis COVID-19. Authorities reported at least 34 people dead and thousands of residents displaced.  

It was one of the most significant natural disasters since a 2014 tornado killed 35 people in the central and southern parts of the United States. 

Seeking Shelter

Thousands of residents flocked to the local community shelters wearing face masks following coronavirus guidelines. 

State officials and emergency agencies are grappling with improvising and creating sustainable temporary shelters and necessities for the tornado and storm victims. They are working out plans to prevent housing a large number of evacuees in a single shelter to minimize risks of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic through the community. 

Experts said the natural disaster has led to different strategies on how to deal with the outcome while minding the pandemic simultaneously. 

In The Eye of the Storm

(Photo: Said/Triples S Phone and Computer Repair via REUTERS)
A screengrab from a social media video showing a tornado wreaking havoc in Jonesboro, Arkansas

According to meteorologist Katie Martin, the eye of the storm system brought heavy rain, twisters, and high winds to parts of six states. These include southern Kentucky, eastern Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

Most victims, they said, died under trees fallen by the storm, or collapsed infrastructures. 

The storm also triggered massive flooding and mudslides in mountainous areas, cutting off the power supply for 1.3 million residents. 

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said the storms were the worst they've had in over a decade. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey decided to suspend shelter-in-place and social distancing orders should it stop residents from receiving the necessary support and response they need. 

The American Red Cross initially opened multiple sites in Mississipi as temporary shelters. The evacuees were eventually moved into hotel rooms before Monday morning in compliance with the recommended social distancing measures. 

Experts, however, say sustaining social distancing policies will not be possible should a disaster in the scale of Hurricane Katrina occur. They said authorities would be forced to house people together in shelter environments. 

The weather forecast showed a calmer Wednesday across much of the United States---with a minimal chance of severe storms in areas in the South. 

The Storm Prediction Center said a few strong thunderstorms could appear over southeast Georgia and Florida on Wednesday. 

Richard Chapman, a resident of Pickens County, South Carolina, said his time in the military could not compare to the destruction the tornado and storms brought. "It was almost like a bomb hit," he said. "It was ungodly."

At the height of the storm, 50,000 residents in Connecticut and Massachusetts experienced massive power outages. More than 200,000 people were still without power on Tuesday afternoon.