At least 25 people were killed when devastating tornadoes ripped across Mississippi, tearing off roofs, smashing cars and flattening entire neighborhoods. The powerful weather system, accompanied by thunderstorms and driving rain, cut a path of more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) across the state late Friday, slamming several towns along the way. Mississippi’s emergency management agency reported the death toll at 25 and said dozens more were injured; four people who had been reported missing have since been found. In neighboring Alabama, one man died after being trapped when a trailer overturned in the severe weather, the Morgan County sheriff’s office said on Twitter.
In Rolling Fork, a town of fewer than 2,000 residents, an entire row of houses and buildings was demolished, leaving only scattered debris. Cars were overturned, fences ripped up and trees uprooted. About 4,800 customers were without power in Mississippi, while nearly 11,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark in Alabama, according to poweroutage.us. Mississippi was girding for more turbulent weather on Sunday, including damaging winds and hail, with the state’s emergency management agency warning that “tornadoes cannot be ruled out.”
Patricia Perkins, who works at a hardware store in Rolling Fork, told AFP that “most everything is wiped away.” Resident Shanta Howard described to local TV how community members had to help remove the dead from the wreckage. “It’s way worse than I thought. All of the businesses on Highway 61 are gone,” said Ricky Cox, whose seed‑supply store was wrecked; two of his friends died when their homes were hit. “My city is gone,” Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN. “Devastation— as I look from left to right, that’s all I see. A lot of families are hurting. This community is in a situation that we never expected. Houses that are torn up can be replaced, but we can’t replace a life.”
Search and rescue operations were underway in Sharkey County, home to Rolling Fork—about 60 miles northwest of the state capital Jackson—and in neighboring counties. Fatalities also occurred in Humphreys, Carroll and Monroe counties, the emergency management agency said. “The loss will be felt in these towns forever,” Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter. “Please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends.” President Joe Biden called the images from Mississippi “heartbreaking” and vowed to make federal resources available. “We will do everything we can to help. We will be there as long as it takes,” he said in a statement.
Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby told AFP he arrived in Rolling Fork right after the storm hit, in pouring rain and with “lightning still all around.” “When I got there, it was just a constant cry of voices screaming for help from people that were trapped,” he said, adding that he helped residents free a few people from their destroyed homes. The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency for Rolling Fork and surrounding areas at 9:00 p.m. Friday, warning people to seek shelter from life‑threatening conditions and forecasting golf‑ball‑sized hail. The NWS cautioned that, even after the storms move on, “dangers remain as clean‑up operations continue.” Malary White, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told CBS affiliate WJTV that the “main priority right now, especially for the local first responders, is life safety and accounting for the people and making sure they are safe.” Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon notoriously difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern regions. In January, a series of damaging twisters on the same day left several people dead in Alabama and Georgia.
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