. >> mike whitehead said he's thankful no one was home. when the tornado hit, leveling his house of 17 years. >> we are just blessed to be alive. all this is just replaceable, it's just stuff, but we're still alive and we have neighbors across the road here, they lost their lives. >> reporter: the town high school heavily damaged. grocery store no more. the funeral home where some of those killed might have been remembered in coming days, it, too, is gone. >> i declare a state of emergency in 39 counties, and today, that is being expand eed state-wide. >> this video was caught on camera, the fury as long as the path. >> three-quarters of a mile wide. before it hit, there were branches falling out of the sky before we knew the tornado was coming. >> reporter: but ferocious winds and flying debris weren't only life threatening forces in the air. hail, heavy rain, and flooding left their mark. lives and livelihoods, neighbors and neighborhoods vanished or changed in an instant. >> we grabbed our quilt and our personal belongings and we went i