Across the South, volunteers have been pitching in as the death toll from Wednesday’s storms keeps rising. At least 341 people were killed across seven states, including at least 249 in Alabama, as the storm system spawned tornadoes through several states. There were 35 deaths in Mississippi, 34 in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, five in Virginia, two in Louisiana and one in Kentucky.

It was the largest death toll since March 18, 1925, when 747 people were killed in storms that raged through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. That was long before the days when Doppler radar could warn communities of severe weather. Forecasters have said residents were told these tornadoes were coming. But they were just too wide and powerful and in populated areas to avoid the horrifying body count.

Thousands of people were injured — 990 in Tuscaloosa alone — and hundreds of homes and businesses have vanished into rubble.

Federal Emergency Management Agency workers handed out information to people in shelters about how to apply for help. National Guard soldiers stood watch, searched for survivors and helped sift through debris. Churches transformed into buzzing community hubs.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox has called the disaster a “humanitarian crisis” for his city of more than 83,000 — but he credited volunteers with keeping the situation there from spiraling out of control.

In Tuscaloosa, a Red Cross shelter was handing out clothes and providing counseling for people like Carol Peck, 55, and her 77-year-old mother. She said the shelter’s First Aid station even refilled her blood pressure pills without her having to ask.

She can’t explain how it happened, but she suspects her clinic contacted the shelter.

In Ringgold, Georgia, Poplar Springs Baptist Church has been transformed into an informal help center. Crews were dispatched from the church, some with chain saws to chop through the debris, others with bottled water and food.

Inside the gymnasium, a barbecue buffet was feeding those without power.

“You’ve got elderly people out there who can’t get out there and do it,” said volunteer Kathleen Hensley, 40, of Ringgold. “They need a hand.” The University of Alabama’s athletic department was pitching in around hard-hit Tuscaloosa, with more than 50 athletic training students giving Gatorade, bottled water and protein bars to residents.

Most were grateful to get whatever help they could.

Niki Eberhart, whose home in the Alberta City neighborhood of Tuscaloosa was shredded by the tornado, said Saturday that her husband and two children are getting everything they need at the local shelter. And it isn’t the first time they’ve counted on the Red Cross. When their home in Meridian, Mississippi, burned down last year in an electrical fire, Eberhart said the Red Cross responded within an hour.

“We feel like we’ve been blessed,” she said. “Both times it could have been much worse. We lost things.

Material possessions can be replaced.” Eberhart and her husband, Shane, also had already gotten help from FEMA workers at the shelter who handed out paperwork explaining the process for applying for federal help.

As some tried to clear the rubble and sort through belongings, others took on the task of burying the dozens who died. Several funerals were being held in Rainsville in northeastern Alabama, including services for 70-year-old Hubert Whooten, his 70-year-old wife, Juanita, and her mother, Lethel Izell, 86.

“They were just normal, hardworking country folk,” family friend Kevin Black said outside the Rainsville Funeral Home. “If they seen you, they’re gonna call you by your name and (ask), ‘How’re you doing?’ That’s how it is around here.” But planning funerals was a struggle for many as they dealt with destroyed homes.

“A few of the families I met with, they’ve lost everything,” said Jason Wyatt, manager of Tuscaloosa Memorial Park and Chapel. “It’s hard for me to hold my composure. They don’t have clothing or anything.” Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley dispatched 2,000 National Guard troops around Alabama to help residents and keep the peace. Many blocked off roads or patrolled neighborhoods to keep away gawkers and looters. Others helped residents sift through their shattered homes.

Many residents still couldn’t even get into the town of Cordova, Alabama, where stern soldiers cordoned off the few roads that weren’t left impassable by fallen trees. A school, one of the few buildings to survive the twister, was buzzing on Saturday. Students stuffed baskets full of lunches at the cafeteria while their parents sorted supplies across the hall.

Landmarks in the town northwest of Birmingham, were obliterated.

“I knew it was bad. But pictures don’t begin to describe it,” said 19-year-old college student Rachel Mitchell as she drove through town. “This is really hard. This is where I grew up and now nothing is here that I remember.” Still, frustration reigned for some. Eugene Starks, 82, worked with a tow truck driver Saturday to salvage a blown-out car from what was left of his garage in Pratt City, a blue-collar suburb of Birmingham. He said he was grateful to have survived the storm — “I give God credit” — but he needed more help recovering belongings from his home.

“I’m trying to do what I can myself,” he said. “I hope the government steps in, but I’m not holding my breath.” On the outskirts of the town of Phil Campbell in northwestern Alabama, 44-year-old Nickey Hughes was left to protect the rubble of his mobile home in a family-size tent he was sharing with his three grandchildren. He hasn’t been able to find a shelter or a vacant hotel, so he’s staying in the tent to scare off would-be looters.

“I’ve got help. I’ve got food and water. But I have no place to go,” Hughes said. “I’m living it a day at a time, and that is getting to me.”