(CNN) The havoc and heartache caused by a line of storms that spanned 1,200 miles from Texas to the Carolinas was made even worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

The storms left at least 31 dead and destroyed hundreds of buildings in Monroe, Louisiana, alone.

There, Mayor Jamie Mayo asked hotels to provide rooms for those made homeless by the storms, since the virus outbreak has made opening an emergency shelter potentially dangerous.

Hotlines have been established to find housing for those who don't have a safe place to stay.

In Chattanooga, about 50 residents at the assisted living home had to be evacuated by bus to a nearby hotel after the facility's roof was heavily damaged in the storm, Amy Maxwell, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management, told CNN.

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