Tornadoes tear across Mississippi, damaging over 1,000 homes - VIDEO
Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms swept across Mississippi on Wednesday night, damaging more than 1,000 buildings, uprooting trees and injuring at least four people, according to state officials, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.
The destruction came after the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for multiple cities and counties throughout the state.
PDS tornado destroys Wash Trailer Park in Bogue Chitto, Mississippi. Multiple mobile homes destroyed, trees down, power lines down. #mswx @ryanhallyall pic.twitter.com/A8kJHLCkZ1
At one point, the agency declared a “particularly dangerous situation” for Franklin and Adams counties in southwestern Mississippi, a designation reserved for conditions capable of producing the most powerful tornadoes.
Scott Simmons, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told 16 WAPT News on Wednesday that as many as 815 buildings were damaged in Franklin and Lincoln counties.
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The storms also scattered debris and downed power lines across several roads.
In Lincoln County, debris forced transportation officials to close southbound lanes along part of Interstate 55 for several hours, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, in Lamar County, located about 100 miles southeast of the state capital Jackson, a tornado damaged around 250 buildings, including a church, and left four people injured as of 11 p.m., according to James Smith, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency. Smith said one person was hospitalized for stitches, but all reported injuries were minor.
Smith also said several residents contacted emergency services after trees collapsed onto their homes and trapped them beneath debris. However, those individuals managed to free themselves before rescue crews arrived. He added that the worst phase of the tornado appeared to have passed.
According to PowerOutage.com, at least 21,000 customers across Mississippi — mainly in the southwestern part of the state — were without electricity early Thursday morning.
Shortly before 1 a.m. local time, the National Weather Service reported that a severe thunderstorm was moving east at 40 miles per hour, while nickel-sized hail was falling across Perry and Greene counties.
The storm system later moved into Alabama overnight. Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency warned residents to expect the possibility of heavy rain, large hail and isolated tornadoes through early Thursday. A tornado watch, which indicates a lower level of threat than a tornado warning, remained in effect for several counties in Alabama and Mississippi until 6 a.m.
By Nijat Babayev
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