At least 23 killed as tornado and storms rip across Mississippi

Tornadoes injured at least a dozen people in Oklahoma at the end of February. And earlier in March, heavy rain, severe winds and tornadoes damaged homes in at least eight states in the US South. PHOTO: REUTERS

JACKSON, Mississippi – At least 23 people were killed as a tornado and strong thunderstorms swept across Mississippi late on Friday, leaving a trail of damage for more than 160km, ABC News reported on Saturday, quoting the local and federal authorities.

“We can confirm 23 dead, dozens injured, four missing due to last night’s tornadoes,” the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (Mema) tweeted. 

“Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change,” the agency wrote, adding that numerous local and state search and rescue teams continued to work this morning.

Search and rescue operations were under way in Sharkey and Humphreys counties, said Mema chief communications officer Malary White.

Emergency workers were surveying the damage from the tornado that touched down on Friday night, as rain and high winds whipped through Mississippi, and power outages piled up.

The tornado caused damage in the towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork, the National Weather Service office in Jackson city said on Twitter.

The agency issued rare tornado emergencies for parts of the state on Friday night, indicating a life-threatening situation, along with tornado warnings in parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee states.

More than 1.9 million people in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee were under a tornado watch as at early Saturday morning, and more than 80,000 electricity customers in those states had already lost power.

In Mississippi, many of the outages were in Sharkey and Montgomery counties. An officer who answered the phone at the Sharkey County Sheriff’s Office in Rolling Fork early on Saturday said the power in the building was off.

“Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God’s protection tonight,” Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement on Twitter, referring to the Mississippi Delta region. “Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!”

In Rolling Fork, Mayor Eldridge Walker told a local television station that he could not leave his house because of downed power lines. He said its garage and west side had been seriously damaged by the tornado.

“We have a situation here,” Mr Walker told the station, WLBT. He said some people in the community had been injured, though he did not give a specific number, and asked that people continue to shelter in place while emergency responders arrived.

Mr Fred Miller, a former mayor of Rolling Fork, said that as the storm came through shortly after 8pm, his whole house shook, and he could hear windows being blown out and debris falling.

Mr Miller said it was clear that other homes and trees had been damaged, and he could see the flashing lights of police cars and emergency responders.

“A great deal of the town has been destroyed,” he said in an interview on Fox Weather.

“All of the businesses on 61 have been completely destroyed,” he said, referring to a commercial and retail stretch of a highway in the town. “People are trapped in a couple of the eateries, and people are trying to get them out now.”

“I’ve not really heard any good news,” Mr Miller said. “Tomorrow, we’ll look and re-evaluate and see what we have to do to clean up.”

Severe weather season in the US South reaches its peak during March, April and May, meteorologists said.

Earlier in March, powerful storms swept across the South, leaving at least 12 people dead and hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity. Heavy rain, severe winds and tornadoes damaged homes in at least eight states.

And at the end of February, tornadoes injured at least a dozen people in Oklahoma. REUTERS, NYTIMES

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