After a storm system moved through late Tuesday and early Wednesday, residents in Greene and Hale counties are cleaning up the mess left behind.
Powerlines were down throughout both counties. Dozens of power crews were on the ground and worked to restore power Wednesday.
In Hale County, many homes on and around Oak Village Road were damaged. Hale County EMA reported 10 homes were destroyed and at least 20 others were damaged.
"I was raised in the church. I got away from it, but I did a lot of praying last night and this morning," said Dennis Hudgins, a resident in the area.
It was a close call for Hudgins. A large pine tree snapped in last night's storm and landed feet from his house.
"It sounded like everything in the world was breaking. Scary. Scary thing," said Hudgins.
His home had no damage. His neighbors were not as fortunate. "Lot of them have lost everything. It will take them years to get it back where it was at."
Power crews swarmed the area and neighbors helped neighbors.
"If you look around folks have power saws. They've been cutting wood for folks. Getting trees off of houses," said Bobby Johnson. "People on the roof helping each other. They are a close-knit bunch and when they have trouble they really buckle down and really help each other."
"Most of the people here have been here 34 to 40 years. Some of them 50. We are like a big family. We have to watch out for one another," said Hudgins.
In Greene County, one building at the Sagewood Apartments in Eutaw had the entire roof ripped off. Preliminary findings from the National Weather Service in Birmingham showed an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds caused the damage.
Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson said it is estimated that 16 units were impacted. Residents were offered shelter at a local community center.
"We are working on a shelter for those people. We are going to need food. We are going to need clothing," said Mayor Johnson.
Eutaw police will remain at the apartment complex.
"A lot of people have property that's probably not damaged. You have people that during tragic times like to take advantage of people like that and we are going to make sure that doesn't happen," said Eutaw Chief of Police, Tommy Johnson.
Considering the damage, leaders believed their community was lucky.
"When I look at the apartment complex and how that happened there. you could just say we are blessed by God's favor," said Hodges Smith, Greene County EMA Director.
Greene County announced its schools would be closed through Thursday as recovery efforts continue.