After Storms , Florida Picks Up the PiecesBy Peter WhoriskeyWashington Post Staff WriterSunday , February 4 , 2007 ; Page A 12 LADY LAKE , Fla . , Feb . 3 -- Where did our wedding photo get to ? What about the insurance policy ? And where are my dentures ? For scores of families here , the answers lie somewhere in the storm wreckage strewn across their yards , under splintered lumber and toppled trees , or perhaps thousands of feet away in a pasture or a forest , unlikely ever to be found again . PhotosDeadly Storms Sweep Through FloridaStorms carrying what was believed to be the state ' s deadliest tornado in a decade cut a path across central Florida , killing at least 19 people , damaging hundreds of homes and littering fields with clothes , furniture and splintered lumber . Iraqis in growing numbers are fleeing the war at home , creating the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East in almost 60 years . Many , like Hussein Ghani , live as refugees in Amman , Jordan , and fear deportation . ( Jahi Chikwendiu - The Washington Post ) SEE FULL COLLECTIONFeedbackIn Today ' s A Section • At Least 125 Killed in Blast at Baghdad Market • War in Iraq Propelling A Massive Migration • At Democrats ' Meeting , Bush Appeals for Cooperation • Reaching Out With the Word -- and Technology • At Last , a Historic First » More in Today ' s Print EditionWho ' s Blogging ? Read what bloggers are saying about this article . Meducat Full List of Blogs ( 1 links ) » Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost . com | On the webSave & Share ArticleWhat ' s This ? DiggGoogledel . icio . usYahoo ! RedditFacebookSaturday , the day after storms and at least one tornado wreaked havoc and killed at least 20 in central Florida , brought the return of a familiar Florida spectacle : Residents initially exhilarated to have survived turned their attention to the wearying logistical aggravations of digging out and moving on after a natural disaster . Hundreds of families , aided by dozens of church volunteer groups and local jail inmates in bold green - and - white - striped uniforms , sifted through the debris under sodden skies and through fitful rain . " The hardest thing is watching the kids , " said David L . Pyles , 39 , a Marion County inmate who said he was jailed for contempt of court and had volunteered to help clear brush and debris . " It ' s horrible . They ' re looking for their toys , they ' re crying . It ' s awfully sad . " President Bush on Saturday declared Lake , Seminole , Sumter , and Volusia counties a disaster area -- a designation that makes available federal grants and loans for thousands affected by the storms . " Whatever federal response is needed , we will make it quick and sure , " Bush told a gathering of House Democrats in Williamsburg , Va . All of the fatalities occurred in Lake County , northwest of Orlando . Among the dead were at least six elderly people , including a 92 - year - old man , according to the county medical examiner ' s office . Two teenagers and a 7 - year - old boy also died . Though search operations continued Saturday , Lake County Sheriff Gary S . Borders said that he did not expect to find any more fatalities . " We think that everyone is accounted for , " Borders said . Lake County officials released a preliminary estimate of $ 10 million in damage to more than 100 homes . Every natural disaster turns at least a few places into magnets for gawkers and media trying to get a sense of what has happened . One such place after this storm is the yard of Gene and Edna Suggs , both 70 , who built a brick house in Lady Lake 33 years ago . It weathered tropical storms and the rampages of the Suggses ' three sons , who grew up there . It was deemed far sturdier than a mobile home . " There wasn ' t any better construction in those days , " said Carmen Miller , 67 , a family friend who sold them the building supplies and was helping to clean up . " It was strong . " There is now nothing left but the foundation and a pile of bricks . The roof , or at least some of it , landed in a pond in a pasture more than 100 yards away . Other signs underscore the magnitude of the winds . A 30 - foot palm tree with a trunk that measures more than a foot in diameter snapped in half , its top flying across the street . Other debris from the Suggses ' house appears to have flown more than half a mile away . once - towering live oaks lie on their sides . The wind picked up Gene Suggs , along with his mattress , and smashed him into a collapsing wall , and Edna Suggs found herself beneath another fallen wall . Pinned , they were pelted with rain and hail . Both said they had no idea the storm was coming ; they were asleep , and it was essentially the house ' s collapse that awakened them . " I was yelling for him , but I didn ' t know he was pinned , too , " recalled Edna , a former high school cafeteria employee . " The Lord -- he brought us out of there . " " She was letting out a sound -- it was the most serious sound I ever heard , " Gene said . He freed himself , then his wife , and then they began to pray . He started the prayer but dissolved into tears , he said . " I had to finish the prayer , " Edna said . " I said , ' We thank the Lord for our lives . ' " Prisoners , friends from Calvary Baptist Church and the Suggses ' children were carting away piles of debris and helping the couple sift for any items worth salvaging . For the Suggses , as for many others dazed by the power of the wind and profoundly thankful to have escaped , the aftermath prompted religious wondering . What did it mean ? " It ' s not God that did this , " Gene said . " Satan is the one that brings natural disasters . I guess he was upset about something . "