Brutal Weather Continues to Plague South, Midwest

From search and rescue, to clean-up efforts, to more watches and warnings threatening parts of the country again, severe weather is still taking its toll on a large portion of the United States. 

At least 37 people are dead from tornadoes and flooding, and it's not over yet. People in Florida say they've neve seen so much water. Two feet of rain fell in just one day.

Gov. Rick Scott said emergency officials from across the state advised residents to take precautions.

"We had 300 requests for evacuations," he said.

But the rain fell too fast for many people to move to higher ground in time. One person in Pensacola drowned in a car stuck on a flooded road.

An elderly woman almost suffered the same fate in nearby Alabama, but brave firefighters waded through high water to rescue her from her car just before she went under.

Flood warnings continue up and down the East coast, the same area hit by tornadoes earlier in the week. Tornadoes also hit interior states such as Arkansas.

All together, there have been more than 130 tornadoes across the south and east this week. The storms have killed dozens, including 21-year-old John Servati, a member of the University of Alabama swim team who managed to save his girlfriend from a collapsing wall as they attempted to ride out the storm inside a home. However, the wall crumbled on top of him.

The news devastated fellow students.

"He's a really incredible guy and things like that aren't supposed to happen to them," one student said.

Meanwhile, in Mississippi, like many other states ravaged by tornadoes, the cleanup is just in its beginning stages and will likely continue for months.

"It is amazing to see that amount of damage," Gov. Phil Bryant said.

Arkansas and Mississippi have been especially hard hit.

CBN's Operation Blessing is on the ground in Tupelo, Mississippi, which took a direct hit from a tornado on Monday.

The rescue teams are helping residents remove debris left by the tornado.

Operation Blessing has also set up a mobile command post at a local church and is reaching out to residents with the love of Christ.

Angela Howard's home was completely destroyed in the storm. She said it's a miracle that she and her three children were not home at the time and she's grateful for the help from Operation Blessing.

"There's a bathtub that's lying directly behind you closer to the road -- that's the tub for nine years we always took shelter in during the tornado warning. Had we been here, that's the tub we would have been in, so God moves in mysterious ways," Howard said.

"He was with us in our move," she continued. "It's a great thing -- I don't know what we would do without people like you guys coming in and assisting. I sure wouldn't know where to start."

Forecasters say some storm risks remain, including the possibility of large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding in portions of the South and East Coast.