A massive tornado touched down in Mississippi and Alabama last night. At least 26 people were killed but it’s possible that death toll will rise. A nurse who helped care for the injured at a nearby hospital told the NY Times, “I have never seen as much devastation and traumatic injuries as I saw last night.” He added, “You just can’t imagine. It was awful.”

A meteorologist who was tracking the storm said a prayer on the air as it was headed form the town of Amory.

WATCH: WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan overwhelmed as major tornado hits Amory, Mississippi pic.twitter.com/JDd8n46X31

— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) March 25, 2023

Amory MS tornado damage. #mswx @NWSMemphis pic.twitter.com/ZvXFE2hWUX

— Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) March 25, 2023

One family of seven in Amory survived the complete destruction of their house in a small bunker:

NW side of Amory MS. This house took a direct hit from the tornado total loss. Seven family members were able to get storm shelter before it hit. The advance warning by the @NWSMemphis with the tag tornado emergency saved lives in Amory MS. #mswx #Amory #tornado pic.twitter.com/NqC1KcBO0R

— Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) March 25, 2023

A videographer captured this image of the tornado just before it hit the town of Rolling Fork, MS.

Violent tornado with horizontal vortex right before entering Rolling Fork, MS. Came across town and pulled multiple people from ruble. Unburied one woman and flagged down medic. Myself, Max and Jordan worked to free older woman buried under house and carried little girl to safety pic.twitter.com/uJu5BrMFFd

— Aaron Rigsby (@AaronRigsbyOSC) March 25, 2023

Here’s video of the tornado passing close to Rolling Fork. It’s a bit shaky at first but steadies later.

Video of the Rolling Fork/Silver City tornado passing just north of Midnight, MS. The tornado was approximately 1/3 mile or less in front of me. You can see the lights from a house in the distance get swallowed up. #mswx #Tornado #RollingFork #Silvercity pic.twitter.com/tl4w3K045Y

— Steven Walchli (@stevenwalchli) March 25, 2023

The town, which had a population under 2,000 people, appears to have been completely destroyed.

First light revealing the destruction in Rolling Fork, MS #MSwx pic.twitter.com/9q5QX2wF4F

— Aaron Rigsby (@AaronRigsbyOSC) March 25, 2023

CNN spoke to a woman from Rolling Fork who took shelter in a freezer at work:

“We didn’t know what was happening. I got a message from my daughter and my sister saying, ‘There’s a tornado, get to safety,’ and then one of my cashiers came and said her mom was on the phone and there was a tornado,” she continued. “Then all of a sudden, the lights—the lights started flickering and I don’t know if it was me or someone else who said, ‘Cooler!’ And my husband just started pushing us all in the cooler and this little spot saved our lives,” Harden said, as she wiped tears from her face.

Please keep the people of Rolling Fork, Mississippi in your prayers. 🙏🏼

The Governor of MS reported that over 23 Mississippians were killed in the tornado last night.

Absolutely tragic.

pic.twitter.com/U12sobcK9F

— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) March 25, 2023

According to a researcher at the University of Oklahoma, the tornado lifted debris about six miles into the air.

What was almost certainly a strong to violent tornado just impacted Rolling Fork, MS a few minutes ago, lofting debris above 30,000 feet(!) and producing a strong, long-lived velocity couplet above 80 kt, all of which point to an extremely high-caliber tornado #mswx pic.twitter.com/72ZupKNPib

— Sam Emmerson (@ou_sams) March 25, 2023

There are reports of checks from Rolling Fork being found more than 100 miles away.

(📸: Christy Edgeworth) Here is a photo of a check that Mrs. Edgeworth found in her yard in Big Creek, Mississippi, 133 miles from Rolling Fork following the storms. pic.twitter.com/WV0mEulsLO

— WLBT 3 On Your Side (@WLBT) March 25, 2023

The mayor of Rolling Fork, Eldridge Walker, told CNN his community was gone.

The mayor of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, tells CNN his community "is gone" after powerful storms and at least one tornado pummeled the state https://t.co/00sPybiDap pic.twitter.com/ArRzwsfbeL

— CNN (@CNN) March 25, 2023

Rolling Fork was the first of several towns hit. The same storm also hit Silver City, MS.

Drone footage from Silver City, MS shows extreme devastation in the city. Roofs were torn off home and trees uprooted. #MSwx pic.twitter.com/BnzO4zR1KW

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 25, 2023

More drone footage from our field crews in Silver City, MS today. You can see the path the tornado carved and debris scattered throughout. Crews are working to clear pathways within the community #MSwx #silvercitytornado pic.twitter.com/feuQkM6SDY

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 25, 2023

The governor has issued a state of emergency.

JACKSON, Miss. – Governor Tate Reeves today issued a State of Emergency in all counties affected by the severe storms which occurred across Mississippi on March 24, 2023.

Governor Reeves’ State of Emergency can be found here. [https://t.co/sdkHlXjcUP] pic.twitter.com/B7QWZud1Eq

— msema (@MSEMA) March 25, 2023

Some news outlets were reporting at least 23 were killed in the storm. Most are now reporting 24 killed. The death toll could rise as rescuers go through these areas and try to account for everyone. I’ll update this later if the situation changes.

Update: The death toll in Mississippi has been updated to 25 which bring the total toll from this storm to 26. The update from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says dozens more were injured. I’ve updated the headline.