Severe storms swept across much of the Southeast on Sunday, spawning a series of tornadoes that killed at least six people in Mississippi and caused damage in parts of northern Louisiana and Alabama.

The tornadoes were part of a band of severe weather from the Mississippi River to the East Coast, according to the National Weather Service.

“In a time like this, Easter was something to bring us all together. It is terrible that even on a day that is supposed to bring people together, there was something so tragic that happened,” sophomore Stephen Marcum said. 

At least six people died in Mississippi, where early reports said that a dozen or more tornadoes touched down, according to the National Weather Service. Thousands in Mississippi lost electricity service as the storms downed power lines.

“This is not how anyone wants to celebrate Easter Sunday,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, declaring a state of emergency due to the storms. 

Before the storms hit Mississippi, multiple tornadoes were reported in northern Louisiana, where there were no immediate reports of serious injuries, but thousands of residents also were without electricity, according to NPR.

“This is just adding to the mayhem. When the world is so split up by a pandemic like Coronavirus, it is strange to think that anything else is happening in the world,” junior Seth Chaplin said. 

As many as 300 homes were damaged in the storms around Monroe, Louisiana. At Monroe’s regional airport, where winds of up to 69 miles per hour were recorded, the siding was stripped off buildings and strewn across runways, causing the cancellations of flights.