Rick Perry: ‘It's a Stunning Amount of Devastation' in Texas

(NECN/NBC News: Jay Gray) - The cleanup continues in the Dallas Fort Worth area, two days after a series of powerful tornados barreled across the densely populated area.
Miraculously, no one was killed, but the damage is severe.
Debris like this that is scattered for miles. Both homes and lives splintered. Forney was hit hard, but survivors here are hitting back.
The sounds of recovery echo across north Texas now.
Crews are working through the wreckage a string of 13 tornados left behind.
In some areas, they are using heavy equipment. In others, the work is by hand.
For some, all of the debris being pushed into piles is all that's left of their lives before the storm.
"We need help. I know we can't go back in our house; we don't have a roof."
Hoping to provide that help, hundreds of volunteers have poured into the strike zone.
They are sweeping-up, scraping-up and carrying away what they can.
"They need it,” said community volunteer James Hamilton. “That's why."
And there is still so much to do here.
Texas Governor Rick Perry got a first-hand look at the damage from the air Thursday.
“It's a stunning amount of devastation," said Gov. Perry.
So many here have lost so much.
"You're irreplaceable treasures and things that the men and women who lived here two days ago see thrown across the roads and in their yards and in some places never be ever to be able to find them and replace them," said Perry.
It is an emotional struggle for survivors battered by the violent storms, but not broken.
"It's really a close-knit area here,” said Forney Mayor Darren Rozell. “Forney has done this before; we have a history of doing what we need to do.”
It’s a bond and history they will call on during what is sure to be a long and difficult recovery.
It will be costly, as well. At this point, state and federal officials will only say hundreds of millions of dollars as they continue to access the damage.