. >> reporter: but dave westhoff captured the essence of this close-knit town the best. >> you know, we are missourians and we take care of our own and this is a strike, as you say, in our own backyard. our hearts say, get down here and do what we can to help the folks in this part of the state. and we pull together as a group and do the best we can for them. >> reporter: josh, you've been out in it all day and the devastation in this weather. with the first responders, search and rescue. what did you see? what was that like? >> a relentless sense of perspective. every time you wait to become inured to what you're seeing, you look down another city block and you find yourself thinking, oh, my god, look at that. and it's like that over and over and over again. we were out with the first responders and the search and rescue teams. and if you feel yourself lagging, if you think, wow, it's been a long day for me, you look at them, they started before we did. they'll be working through these horrific conditions all night, well into tomorrow. they're going to work until they drop. we heard