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Tornado in Mississippi kills at least 23, with dozens more injured ‘My city is gone’: ‘supercell’ tornado annihilates Mississippi town and kills 23
(about 3 hours later)
Four people still missing after buildings wrecked and power lines downed by ‘supercell’ storm system Severe weather leaves dozens more injured with Rolling Fork and Silver City in Mississippi delta being centers of destruction
At least 23 people were killed and dozens injured as a tornado and strong thunderstorms swept across Mississippi on Friday, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states. Devastating storms and at least one large tornado which ripped through rural Mississippi on Friday night left 23 people dead in the state, dozens injured and rescue workers hauling people from rubble on Saturday morning as the death toll was expected to rise.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed there had been 23 deaths with dozens of injuries and four people missing throughout the state. The agency said in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from numerous local and state agencies were deployed along with personnel to assist those affected by the tornadoes. Severe weather pounded several southern states overnight as the centers of destruction emerged on Saturday morning as the small, majority Black towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City in the Mississippi delta.
“Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change,” it said, referring to the death toll. As the sheer scale of devastation was revealed, Rolling Fork’s mayor Eldridge Walker declared: “My city is gone.”
The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept north-east at 70mph (113km/h) without weakening, racing towards Alabama. Speaking to CNN as images circulated of entire neighborhoods flattened to rubble, cars crumpled, and trees shorn of their leaves, Walker continued: “But we are resilient and we are going to come back strong.”
“The loss will be felt in these towns forever. Please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends”, Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, tweeted. He added: “Families are affected, homes are torn up, families are without a place to live, children are hungry this morning, no clothes.”
The Sharkey county sheriff’s office in Rolling Fork reported gas leaks and people trapped in piles of rubble, according to the Vicksburg News. Some law enforcement units were unaccounted for in Sharkey, according to the newspaper. Rolling Fork has a population of about 2,000 people, with approximately 20% of residents living below the poverty line and 21% living in mobile homes, making them especially vulnerable to extreme weather. The town is known as the birthplace of the Blues music pioneer Muddy Waters.
Storm chaser Reed Timmer posted on Twitter that Rolling Fork was in immediate need of emergency personnel and that he was heading with injured residents of the town to a Vicksburg hospital. The National Weather service was dispatching teams to locations throughout the delta region to assess damage as state responders scrambled to reach affected areas on Saturday morning. The agency sought to determine whether a path of destruction stretching over 100 miles across the state was caused by a single tornado or multiple cyclones that touched down throughout the night.
“The loss will be felt in these towns forever,” Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, tweeted as he headed to Rolling Fork on Saturday morning. “Please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends.”
The federal disaster agency Fema was also dispatching a team to assist state responders, and Reeves announced he would seek disaster assistance from the US government.
Extensive damage path in Rolling Fork, MS @accuweather pic.twitter.com/6rstnCrQs6Extensive damage path in Rolling Fork, MS @accuweather pic.twitter.com/6rstnCrQs6
The Sharkey-Issaquena community hospital on the west side of Rolling Fork was damaged, WAPT reported. The Sharkey county sheriff’s office in Rolling Fork reported gas leaks, and a number of local law enforcement units were still unaccounted for as of Friday night, according to the Vicksburg News.
Rolling Fork and the surrounding area have wide expanses of cotton, corn and soya bean fields and catfish farming ponds. More than half a dozen shelters were opened in the state by emergency officials. Severe storms swept through parts of Tennessee and Alabama as well, leaving about 60,000 people in the region without power on Saturday morning, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, said in a Twitter post on Friday night that search and rescue teams were active and that officials were sending more ambulances and emergency assets to those affected. In Morgan county, Alabama, the sheriff’s office reported that one man died after his trailer home overturned in the storms. The announcement brought the total death toll from the night’s extreme weather to 24.
“Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God’s protection tonight,” the post said. “Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!”
Rolling Fork’s mayor, Eldridge Walker, told WLBT-TV he was unable to get out of his damaged home soon after the tornado hit because power lines were down. He said emergency responders were trying to take injured people to hospitals.
Cornel Knight told the Associated Press that he, his wife and their three-year-old daughter were at a relative’s home in Rolling Fork when the tornado struck. He said the sky was dark but “you could see the direction from every transformer that blew”.Cornel Knight told the Associated Press that he, his wife and their three-year-old daughter were at a relative’s home in Rolling Fork when the tornado struck. He said the sky was dark but “you could see the direction from every transformer that blew”.
He said the tornado struck another relative’s home across a wide corn-field from where he was. A wall in that home collapsed and trapped several people inside. As Knight spoke to AP by phone, he said he could see lights from emergency vehicles at the partly collapsed home.He said the tornado struck another relative’s home across a wide corn-field from where he was. A wall in that home collapsed and trapped several people inside. As Knight spoke to AP by phone, he said he could see lights from emergency vehicles at the partly collapsed home.
The storm system was a supercell, the kind that brew the deadliest tornadoes and most damaging hail in the United States, said Walker Ashley, a meteorology professor at the University of Northern Illinois. The storm system was a supercell, the kind that brew the deadliest tornadoes and most damaging hail in the United States, said Walker Ashley, a meteorology professor at the University of Northern Illinois speaking to the Associated Press.
Meteorologists had seen a big tornado risk coming for the general region as much as a week in advance, said Ashley, who was discussing it with his colleagues as early as 17 March. The National Weather Service’s storm prediction center put out a long-range alert for the area on 19 March, he said.Meteorologists had seen a big tornado risk coming for the general region as much as a week in advance, said Ashley, who was discussing it with his colleagues as early as 17 March. The National Weather Service’s storm prediction center put out a long-range alert for the area on 19 March, he said.
Tornado experts have been warning about increased risk exposure in the region because of people building more. “You mix a particularly socioeconomically vulnerable landscape with a fast-moving, long-track nocturnal tornado and disaster will happen,” Ashley said in an email. Tornado experts have been warning about increased risk exposure in the region because people there are building more. “You mix a particularly socioeconomically vulnerable landscape with a fast-moving, long-track nocturnal tornado and disaster will happen,” Ashley said in an email.
Matt Elliott, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s storm prediction centre in Norman, Oklahoma, said the severe weather was expected across several states. Matt Elliott, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s storm prediction centre in Norman, Oklahoma said the severe weather was expected across several states.
The storm prediction centre said the greatest threat of tornadoes would come in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Storms with damaging winds and hail were forecast from eastern Texas and south-eastern Oklahoma into parts of south-eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. According to records maintained by the National Weather service, the tornado’s current death toll ranks as the joint highest in Mississippi in the 21st century. In April 2011, an outbreak of tornadoes killed dozens throughout the south-eastern US region, including 23 in Mississippi.
More than 49,000 customers had lost power in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee as of Friday night, according to poweroutage.us. More severe storms are expected for the region on Sunday, with a level two out of five risk of damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, and severe hail. The areas impacted will include Montgomery, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; and Columbus and Macon in Georgia.
In Texas, a suspected tornado struck at about 5am in the south-west corner of Wise county, damaging homes and downing trees and power lines, said Cody Powell, the county’s emergency management coordinator. Powell said no injuries were reported. With an additional 2in to 4in of rain predicted through Sunday, flooding is also possible, meteorologists said.
The weather service had not confirmed a tornado in neighbouring Parker county, but damage to homes was also reported there, said the meteorologist Matt Stalley. Edward Helmore and the Associated Press contributed reporting
More severe storms are expected for the region on Sunday, with a Level 2 out of 5 risk of damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, and severe hail. The areas impacted will include Montgomery, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; and Columbus and Macon in Georgia.
With an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain predicted through Sunday, flooding is also possible, meteorologists said.