President Biden declared a federal emergency after a devastating tornado killed at least 25 people in Mississippi and one in Alabama. Entire neighborhoods were flattened. Mississippi residents recounted the harrowing moment the storm hit their homes.

Shanta Howard: “What was going through my head? Lord, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want me or the kids to die.”

Jackson resident: “Ran, got in the bathroom, in the tub with my wife, and all threw pillows over us, and we hear stuff hitting the roof, a lot of trees down.”

While visiting the aftermath of the tornado, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned extreme weather events are increasing “in gravity, in severity, and in frequency.” Over 20 million people across the South and southeastern U.S. are under threat of more severe storms today.