Georgia Picks up Pieces After Deadly Tornadoes
BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Some say it looks like a war zone, it is the area of south Georgia devastated by a series of tornadoes. President Clinton has declared four counties federal disaster areas. CNN's Brian Cabell is there.</s>BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tree by tree, house by house, the residents of southwest Georgia are clearing the mess created by six tornadoes that swept through here early Monday morning, and residents are getting help. Georgia Baptist church members have arrived with chainsaws and muscle.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The folks are in trouble and we are here to try to help.</s>CABELL: The Salvation Army trucks are here, set up to help victims in the middle of the worst devastation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we come in and we feed them, give them drinks, if they -- we don't have what they want, we try to direct them where they can get it.</s>CABELL: Ordinary citizens have shown up ready to dispense food, water, whatever is needed. Ron Jackson upon hearing news of the tornado started soliciting donations in nearby Albany on Monday, went out and bought food and water and made his delivery to Camilla.</s>RON JACKSON, GEORGIA RESIDENT: This is not my home, but this is just like my neighbors to me, you know. I take care of my neighbors like I would myself.</s>CABELL: And the people who need a little care, the victims, they're coping as they return to their battered homes, their devastated neighborhoods. Many had friends who died in the tornado, and now the survivors such as John Mickens (ph), here clearing out his house, are looking toward an uncertain future.</s>JOHN MICKENS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I'm going to try to rebuild right here in the same spot, but I just hope it don't never come this way no more, or I'll go stay somewhere else.</s>CABELL: Two streets away, Charlene Jackson faces the same dilemma just two days after the tornado swept most of her house away while she was lying in her bed. Right now, she and her family are thinking they will stay.</s>CHARLENE JACKSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes, I think, you know, when everything gets settled and maybe cleaned up I think we will. It won't be the same, but we are going to have to try to start over again.</s>CABELL: Some of the victims have little choice: they can't afford to leave. Others simply say this is home and even a tornado with winds in excess of 150 miles per hour isn't going to drive them away. Brian Cabell, CNN, Camilla, Georgia.