Rubble and casualties after 1947 Texas City, TX, fires

The transcript describes a high school gymnasium serving as a central point for victim identification after a disaster. The process is emotionally taxing for the loved ones left behind. As the situation stabilizes, townspeople begin to comprehend the scale of destruction, with rows of houses reduced to rubble, as if crushed by a giant fist.

How did the townspeople react as they assessed the damage from the disaster?

What imagery is used to describe the destruction of the houses?