Mississippi Man 'Starting Over from Scratch' After Tornado Levels New Home: 'Grateful to Be Alive'

There's nothing left of the home William Barnes shares with his wife Carolyn in Silver City, Miss., after tornadoes swept through the area on Friday evening, killing at least 23.

"Everything is gone," Barnes, a 58-year-old supervisor at a catfish processing plant, tells PEOPLE. "It's all gone."

Barnes heard there were tornado warnings when he was at work on Friday, but he and his wife didn't turn on the news when they came home that evening. They ate catfish and green salad for dinner, then Carolyn took a shower and spoke to her sister on the phone.

"Then the tornado horn went off," Barnes says of hearing sirens blare. "They said we got five minutes to get out."

After grabbing his wallet and keys, the couple quickly left the double-wide mobile home, which Barnes says they purchased less than a year ago and just recently furnished, to take shelter at his mother's brick house next door.

As soon as they got there and sat down with his mom, the lights went out.

"We got in the hallway," Barnes says. "And about that time, that's when this storm hit. The windows blew out my mother's house and everything. Then after that, the door came [off]. I had to actually turn my back and stop the door from hitting my wife."

Just as quickly as the storm started, it was over, Barnes tells PEOPLE. When the rain stopped, he took a flashlight and went outside to to check on his home but only saw wreckage. "I went next door and found out — oh, it was over with," he says. "Our house and everything was gone."

Still, there's plenty to be grateful for: "We were blessed with our life," Barnes adds. "Everybody was saved."

Barnes spent all day Saturday sifting through the debris, looking for anything he and Carolyn can salvage. They found some important documents, old photos and children's diplomas. He planned to go back Sunday to see if he could find clothing.

While searching, they began to comprehend the power of the storm. "My house is spread over a block," Barnes says.

Neighbors, he adds, have found parts of his house's frame inside their home "Some of my house is inside their house," he says. "I'm starting over from scratch."

Even at his mother's brick home, where Barnes and his wife survived the storm, the windows were blown out and the carport was destroyed.

"It's not safe. She's staying with my sister," Barnes says of his mom. "You can't stay there."

Barnes says for now he's focused on what he hasn't lost — like his family.

"I don't believe I really took all this in yet. It seems like to me that when it hits me, it probably will hit me hard, but I'm just trying to be strong," he says. "My daughters came down, you know, I have four kids. I have three daughters and a son. And so they came down and they're trying to help. I'm trying to be strong for them cause they are upset. I understand everybody gets upset about stuff, but like I said, it's just material things. I'd rather for you to see me than see the house."

"You can replace it," he adds of his house and the new furniture that was destroyed. "But if I was gone, you could not replace me."

Silver City, where the Barnes home was destroyed, and other rural towns in Mississippi, like Rolling Fork, were the most impacted by the storm, which are also blamed for at least one death in Alabama.

President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for federal aid to assist in Mississippi's recovery efforts.

Barnes wanted to share his story to help others. "Anytime you see a warning for a tornado, take cover," he says. "The life you save will be your own."

"I'm grateful to be alive," Barnes adds. "I'm real grateful for that. Because it could have been different."

Some of the ways you can help tornado victims include donating to the United Way of West Central Mississippi, which is focusing on water donations and financial support, as well as the American Red Cross, which is helping provide food at a number of local shelters.