Survivors search for belongings amid Ark. tornado wreckage

All that remained of Shelia Massey's home were a chimney, a bathroom wall, and a bathtub that was her storm shelter.

"God's hand was down and held us there while the rest of the house just blew away," said Massey, 54. "That's all there was to it. The Lord held us there."

A child poking through the rubble found a photograph of Massey's husband, who was not at home when the violent weather struck Friday. The storms killed seven people, damaged or destroyed about 400 homes, and knocked out electrical and telephone service for thousands of customers in 18 counties.

Altogether, meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across middle America late Thursday and early Friday, but Arkansas was the hardest hit.

Down U.S. 65 from Massey's house, parishioners at Southside Baptist Church salvaged what was left of their old sanctuary and their recently completed new church.

Men backed up pickup trucks to the front door of the old church and loaded up boxes filled with red-leather hymnals. The storm had collapsed the roof of the their new sanctuary, bending its steel beams like sipping straws.

Public officials offered comfort and support. U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., and a staff member shook hands with volunteers cleaning the church, and Gov. Mike Huckabee scheduled a tour of the damaged area.

National Weather Service teams were sent out to survey damage for their count of the tornadoes, and state emergency management workers helped county officials with damage assessments. Arkansas National Guard members were on hand to provide security.

Elsewhere Saturday, the National Weather Service posted tornado watches during the morning for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as an arc of strong thunderstorms rolled across the region.