JUDY WOODRUFF: The search for
tornado victims is winding down
tonight in Eastern Alabama.

Now survivors in Beauregard and
other communities face a long
road to recovery, after Sunday's

twister blasted the region with
winds of 170 miles an hour.

John Yang begins our coverage.

JOHN YANG: Across Lee County,
Alabama, residents are coming to
grips with lives lost or forever

changed in an instant.

ANGELA LOCASCIO, Tornado Victim:
Feeling like you have to start
all over, like everything

you worked hard for was gone.

JOHN YANG: Angela Locascio is
grateful she and her family
survived the nation's deadliest

tornado in six years.

ANGELA LOCASCIO: Wondering why.

But we know we can't
predict the weather.

And we just got
out of harm's way.

Luckily, we were one of the
lucky ones that got out.

I had some friends and
family and co-workers
that didn't make it out.

JOHN YANG: Today, authorities
released the names of
the 23 known victims.

Seven came from a single family.

The oldest victim
was 89 years old.

The youngest, Armando "A.J."

Hernandez, was just 6.

WOMAN: There's been
loss of loved ones, God.

There's been loss
of homes, lord.

JOHN YANG: At Lee Scott Academy
in Auburn this morning, the
community united in prayer

for another young life lost,
10-year-old Taylor Thornton,
a student at the school.

Carol Dean sat in what's left
of the home she shared with
her husband, David Wayne Dean.

It's also where he died.

CAROL DEAN, Widow of Tornado
Victim: I really can't describe.

He's just -- it was
just a special bond.

He completed me,
and I completed him.

He was the reason I lived,
the reason that I got up.

JOHN YANG: Officials say the
search for more victims is
winding down and heavy equipment

will be hauling away the debris.

KATHY CARSON, Lee County
Emergency Management
Agency Director: This
has been an ordeal for

all of us, but I'm going to tell
you, I think the people here
and the people who have come

to help us have
performed admirably.

JOHN YANG: As survivors
prepare to bury the dead,
and rebuild shattered lives.

For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm John Yang.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Joining me on
the phone now is Mayor Bubba
Copeland of Smiths Station,

Alabama.

It's a community just east of
Beauregard that is now grappling
with this tornado's devastating

aftermath.

Mayor Copeland, thank you
very much for talking with us.

Tell us how your
community was affected.

BUBBA COPELAND, Mayor of Smiths
Station, Alabama: We have a
town of 5,000, but a township of

22,000 that represents
the greater populace
of Smiths Station.

It's a 27-mile-long tornado.

It was about two football fields
wide, 170-mile-per-hour winds.

It -- everything in its path
pretty much was destroyed.

It's hard to put into words,
besides the fact that I have
never been in a war zone, but

I have seen a war zone,
and it's very familiar,
just total annihilation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's
extraordinary that you
didn't have loss of life.

BUBBA COPELAND: The
lord really blessed us.

And it's unbelievable.

It's a miracle.

We had two injuries, but they
were not life-threatening.

If you were here, you would
be even more amazed than you
would be just by saying it, just

to see the destruction of houses
and homes and mobile homes.

We're just so lucky
and so blessed to not
have any loss of life.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How are you
helping the people who have lost
their homes and lost everything

they have, or a lot of it?

BUBBA COPELAND: Well, you know,
down in the Deep South, we
are great a country of people

who come together.

And what has happened is, is
15 minutes after this storm
come through, people just show

up everywhere like angels.

They just come and
they volunteer.

Today, we had people from
South Carolina, Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina.

They just drove down with
heavy equipment and began just
clearing people's houses, yards

away, so people can actually
get out of their houses and get
to where they could go to the

store or what have you.

We also organized
an effort with EMA.

Also, Red Cross is here,
as well as the Alabama
Forestry Commission is here.

The Alabama National
Guard is here.

Tomorrow, we're expecting
FEMA to come, hopefully,
if the president declares
an emergency, and

they will come in
and help us rebuild.

Right now, we're
organizing our efforts.

But the community
is pulling together.

And we're trying to help people
get the clothes they need.

We have fire stations that are
open for showers and clothes,
and we have churches that are

coming in and feeding
people that don't have food.

A lot of people can't
get out, so we're taking
food to where they're at.

JUDY WOODRUFF: How do you
process, Mayor Copeland,
that just, what, as
we said, 15 miles away

in Beauregard, where there was,
what, 23 people at least died,
how do you process that it

had that impact there, but
your community, even though
there was a lot of damage, was

spared in terms of loss of life?

BUBBA COPELAND: Our hearts go
out to the Beauregard community.

They're part of Lee County.

We're all part of
Lee County, Alabama.

And our hearts are so heavy
for them, with three children
being lost and whole families

being lost.

Words can't describe
the sadness.

This is a very, very
sad day in Lee County.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, our hearts
go out to all of you, certainly
to them, and to everyone

who has experienced a
loss in your community.

Mayor Bubba Copeland of Smiths
Station, Alabama, thank you
very much for talking with us.

BUBBA COPELAND: Thank you.

It's an honor.

Thank you.