Families across the US South have spent Christmas Eve taking stock of their losses after an unusual outbreak of December tornadoes and other violent weather killed at least 14 people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes.
"Santa brought us a good one, didn't he?" Bobby Watkins said as he and his wife took a walk amid the destruction in rural Benton County, Mississippi, where four people - including a married couple and two neighbours on the same street - were confirmed dead and their homes destroyed.
"I may have lost some stuff, but I got my life."
Unseasonably warm weather on Wednesday helped spawn twisters from Arkansas to Michigan. The springlike storms continued east on Thursday, dumping torrents that flooded roads in Alabama and caused a mudslide in the Georgia mountains.
Authorities confirmed seven deaths in Mississippi, including that of a seven-year-old boy who was in a car that was swept up and tossed by a storm. Six more died in Tennessee. One person was killed in Arkansas.
Dozens more were injured, some seriously, said Greg Flynn, spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Teams searched damaged homes and businesses for people still missing, the hunt being complicated because so many had left for the holidays.
"Until they know for sure where those folks are, they're going to keep looking, because we've had in some cases houses levelled, and they're just not there any more," Flynn said.
In Linden, Tennessee, Tony Goodwin's house was knocked down the hill.
He managed to climb inside and fetch some Christmas gifts that had been under his tree, but his neighbours weren't so fortunate. Two people in one home died.
"It makes you thankful to be alive with your family," he said. "It's what Christmas is all about."
Chris Shupiery grabbed his Santa hat and a chainsaw as he set out to help clean up on Thursday. He cut up fallen trees not far from Goodwin's home.
"This was just the right thing to do, come help a family in need," Shupiery said. "Suit up, try to cheer people up and try to make them feel a little better with Christmas coming around."
In Benton County, Mississippi, the storm flattened the house of Daisy and Charles Johnson.
Daisy, 68, said, "We looked straight west of us and there it was. It was yellow and it was roaring, lightning just continually, and it was making a terrible noise. I never want to hear that again for as long as I live."
