At least one person is dead and dozens have been injured after tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Friday.
About 50 homes were damaged during the storms.
"It’s going to take a long time to get this cleaned up, but the community came together," Randi Johnson, the chief of the Powderly Volunteer Fire Department, told the Paris News. "It’s really heartbreaking to see."
Powderly is located near Texas’ border with Oklahoma and suffered significant damage from the storms.
Lamar County, which includes Powderly, has declared a disaster in the area and is seeking federal assistance for the cleanup. County Judge Brandon Bell issued a statement after the storm estimating that approximately two dozen people had been injured during the tornado, according to the Associated Press.
The county’s sheriff and emergency management office issued a press statement claiming that 10 people had received treatment at a local hospital, and that two had suffered critical injuries.
County officials and law enforcement issued a press release asking those who had not been affected by the storm to stay away from the areas that suffered significant damage. Area churches have opened their doors to serve as shelters for those whose homes have been damaged.
Across the border in Oklahoma, the tornadoes ripped through the town of Idabel, leaving dozens of homes and businesses in rubble.
"There was total destruction on the south and east sides of Idabel," Steven Carter, a McCurtain County emergency management coordinator, told the Texarkana Gazette.
He told the paper that people were still trapped under rubble as of Friday, and that Governor Kevin Stitt had dispatched search-and-rescue teams to the area.
Mr Stitt issued a statement saying he was “praying for Oklahomans today,” on Twitter.
Cody McDaniel, the county’s emergency manager, told CNN that officials were still searching for residents and assessing the damage, noting that “it’s not good.”
An initial report by the National Weather Service estimated that over the course of the storm nine tornadoes formed in Texas, four formed in Arkansas, and one formed in Oklahoma.
