Many Christmas celebrations were left in the dark yesterday, assevere weather battered the Deep South, leaving three dead and over300,000 without power. Meanwhile, the nation's midsection battledfreezing rain and blizzard-like conditions, which paralyzedairline travel and created treacherous driving conditions.

On Tuesday, more than 30 tornadoes touched down in theSoutheast—several news sources reported 34—and a large funnel cloudmixed with lightening created a terrifying light display forresidents in Mobile, Alabama.

Punishing winds swept through the Gulf region, carving a path ofdestruction stretching across portions of Texas, Louisiana,Mississippi and Arkansas. The volatile conditions tarnishedantebellum homes and damaged various other properties, tearingroofs and even creating an 8-foot-deep sinkhole in Vicksburg,Mississippi. At least three tornadoes touched down in Texas,but only one building was believed to have been damaged there,according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has declared a state of emergencyin eight counties as a result of the severe storms. Sofar the most extensive damage in the state appears to be in PearlRiver County, where between 12 and 15 homes were destroyed by atwister that send eight people to the hospital.

No claims totals have been released, as insurers enter theearly stages of assessing property damage.

“The damage seems scattered, “says Roszell Gadson, a spokesmanfor State Farm in Alabama. “Not many claims have been reported thusfar, probably because of widespread power outages and the fact itwas the holidays—so policyholders could be away from home.”

Gadson adds State Farm is, however, making contactwith whomever it can, moving assets to any area that needs itmost. As for Arkansas, State Farm's Gary Stephenson reports thestate is “on snow grid-lock, with scattered power outages but isdoing pretty well.”

“We did have some wind damage in Texas,” Stephensoncontinues, “but less than two dozen claims reported this morningfrom our customers.”

At least eight states issued blizzard warnings on Tuesday, andnumerous auto accidents were reported in Oklahoma. By Christmasevening, more than 500 flights nationwide had been cancelled,stranding holiday travelers. More than half were canceledinto and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where afew inches of snow were reported.

As winter weather warnings continue to be issued, it's clearthat the damage is likely far from over.