President Barack Obama is expressing his concern for the people of Mississippi after a deadly tornado struck the state over the weekend.

Obama called Republican Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday to discuss the federal response to the storms. At least 10 people in rural Mississippi and two in Alabama died from the storms.

Obama and Barbour also discussed the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

The White House says Obama assured the governor that every effort is being made to minimize the environmental impact of the leak, which began last week after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank. Eleven workers who were aboard the rig are missing.