Raw emotions as people begin to pick up the pieces

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Now that the storm is over, there is a long road ahead to get the Friendly City back to normal.

Many residents are coming to grips with what is left of their homes and businesses.

“We aren’t resting today but we are thanking God today,” said Happy Irby.

On this Sunday, instead of church, Happy Irby is tending to his home, after a tornado roared through the city of Columbus.

“The wind and water came through this part here which is our bedroom,” said Irby.

His family was at a birthday party, when the sirens rang out.

“My step son spotted the tornado. He came running back inside and by the time he got inside the lights went out in the bowling alley and everyone got in a corner against the wall and once it was over we came home and found this,” said Irby.

Irby’s home isn’t the only structure that took hit. On Waterworks Road, the street lights are dangling so low, cars can barely pass through.

Uprooted trees and debris are sprawled across streets and roadways. Making it hard for drivers like Kee Malone to check on family.

“I just prayed and God kept me,” said Malone.

Malone was grabbing a bite to eat when the sirens blared. She found herself right in the middle of the storm, not long after.

“I didn’t even know it was a tornado. I was just riding through it. Trees and limbs were just falling and every street I turned in I couldn’t get through because trees were down.. The power lines were down,” said Malone.

Mangled power lines remain draped across the roadway near Martha Waltman’s home.

“I looked out my back sliding door and I saw a lot of wind coming. A lot of rain coming. It was raining so hard you couldn’t see hardly,” said Waltman.

She was hiding in her hallway hoping the storm would pass, when she discovered part of her living room was in her yard.

“My curtains were outside. It had sucked my windows partially out in the front,” said Waltman.

Not much remains of what was supposed to be a new business in Columbus. 12 or 13 people were trapped in the building. Luckily, they all made it out okay.

Right next door, Ralph Pifer is picking up the pieces.

“We are extremely fortunate that only half of our building received heavy heavy damage,” said Pifer.

Pifer is the owner of Columbus Fire Service. He was in Tupelo when he got word of what happened.

“We’ll clean up and rebuild and go back out there and make sure everyone else is safe,” said Pifer.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says early damage reports indicate that at least 300 homes, 190 roads and bridges and 30 businesses in 20 counties were damaged by weekend storms.