Mississippi family of four are saved from deadly tornado that killed 34 by their concrete safe room which survived as twister tore apart the rest of their home

With a tornado bearing down on their home in rural Mississippi, a husband told his wife to grabs their sons and get into their safe room built from concrete blocks. 

It was a fateful decision that likely saved four lives on the day 34 others were lost across the Deep South.   

While the rest of their home in Moss, which they had just moved into last month, was obliterated in a matter of seconds on Easter Sunday, Andrew Phillips, wife Amber and their kids, ages two and six months, survived unscathed inside their concrete refuge, which doubled as a closet.

The family had been watching an online Easter service on Sunday morning. Phillips, a volunteer firefighter, then started tracking the weather online and with the help of a fire radio.

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Amber Phillips stands outside the family's safe room, located on their property in Moss, Mississippi, following a tornado that destroyed their home on Sunday 

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While the rest of their home was obliterated in a matter of seconds, Phillips, her husband Andrew and their kids, ages 2 and 6 months, survived the storm without a scratch 

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Their family had just moved into the home a few weeks ago. Andrew said the safe room was one of the reason he bought the property in the first place

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Overturned cars rest about 100 feet from a bar and grill in this Bassfield, Mississippi, neighborhood on Monday

Realizing a tornado was close by, Phillips told Amber to get in the safe room with the kids and joined them. Then, after ducking outside and seeing the funnel cloud, he grabbed more bedroom pillows and jumped back inside, shielding his family with his body.

The powerful twister made quick work of the house, tearing it to shreds.  

'I was in there about 20 seconds when it hit,' he said. 'The house is gone, everything but the safe room.' 

The family had been living in the house only a few weeks. The safe room was one of the reasons he bought it, Phillips said.

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Bags of recovered clothing rest on what remains of the floor in Mama D's Bar and Grill in Bassfield, Mississippi

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Paige Walters collects clothing in a roofless bedroom in her grandfather's Collins, Mississippi,  home Monday. The community was one of many in Mississippi swept by tornadoes

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Deborah and Robert Thomas get emotional in of Seminary, Mississippi, while talking about the tornado that hit the area on Easter Sunday. Robert, a trucker, said he was on the road and called warning his wife it was coming when the twister hit

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With a large garbage bag in hand, Audreanna Wilson, of Seminary, Mississippi, heads back into her home to try to fill it with what she can salvage Monday

Clothes were still hanging neatly inside the vault-like structure after the tumult. But the man´s meat-processing business next door was smashed, as were their cars. Pieces of broken lumber, splintered trees and twisted wiring littered their property.

'I'm just going to let the insurance handle it and trust in the good Lord,' Phillips told The Associated Press by phone Monday. 'We´re going to try to come back bigger and better.'   

The death toll from the tornado outbreak that ravaged the South rose to at least 34 on Tuesday as Mississippi officials said a 12th person had died there.

The storms claimed lives in at least six states, and the National Weather Service said preliminary assessments found evidence that at least 27 twisters struck the region. The strongest twister was an EF-4 tornado that devastated southeastern Mississippi with winds as fast as 170mph.

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, center, talks with residents as he visits a storm-damaged area Tuesday in Chattanooga

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Workers put a tarp over a room of a storm-damaged home Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where three people were killed Sunday 

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Damaged homes line a street Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, after the tornadoes 

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Cleaning up and helping people after the storms was complicated by social distancing guidelines and shutdowns

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Michelle Reeves comforts her dog, Marley, as Reeves salvages items from her damaged home Tuesday in Chattanooga. Reeves and her three dogs were in the home when tornadoes went through the area

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeve declared a state of emergency in the wake of the devastation. 

'This is not how anyone wants to celebrate Easter Sunday,' he stated on Monday. 'As we reflect on the death and resurrection on this Easter Sunday, we have faith that we will all rise together. To the people of Mississippi, know that you are not alone. The state and our first responders are working around the clock and will not rest until this is over. We are mobilizing all resources available to protect our people and their property.' 

Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, and heavy rains caused flooding in some areas. 

Nashville, Tennessee, broke a 71-year-old record by receiving 2.23 inches of rain in a day, the weather service said. 

Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday traveled to Chattanooga and met with residents affected by the tornadoes.  

Lee, a Republican, was photographed wearing a black face mask while touring the disaster area where at least three people died.

Nine died in South Carolina, governor Henry McMaster said, and eight were killed in Georgia.

A suspected twister lifted a house, mostly intact, and deposited it in the middle of a road in central Georgia.

In Louisiana, winds ripped apart a metal aircraft hangar.  

Cleaning up and helping people after the storms was complicated by social distancing guidelines and shutdowns meant to safeguard against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.