Here in eastern Newton County, residents are confident that they can rebuild and recover.

“This is what's left of City Hall. It's in ruins,” said Lynn Sartin. “This was the front porch two days ago.

“Friday night, it was a quiet little town.”

So much has changed in Newtonia since friday. Now, trees are upended, homes are destroyed and debris is scattered.

The storms on Saturday left residents sifting through everything they own -- everything, that's left, anyway.

"Some is theirs, some came from across the street,” said Sartin.

Sartin saw the storms roll in. On Monday, she helped her sister pick up the remains.

"Things they've collected like we all do -- they're all gone,” she said.

She's not the only witness. Doug Gritpka, a pastor from the area who is now keeping an eye on relief efforts, is no stranger to tornadoes.

"I was in Pierce City five years ago,” said Gritpka.

Time hasn't made the recovery process any easier.

"It's shattering to see people put their lives in trash bags," he said.

While they save, bag, sift, saw and box, they are confident that, some day, this town will look like it did Friday night. Even now, they're already seeing reasons to hope. Even with the damage, no one in this town of just more than 200 was injured.

One big help for people would be donations of plastic storage containers to hold their belongings that they collect in the rubble. The Stark City Fire Department, whose territory covers this area, will collect those. It’s at 229 Stella Ave., Stark City, Mo. 64866.