(Trends Wide) — At least 21 people were killed after powerful storms and at least one tornado ripped through Mississippi late Friday, ripping roofs off homes, nearly flattening some neighborhoods and knocking out power for thousands, authorities said Saturday morning.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado struck the cities of Silver City and Rolling Fork, which one resident described as being wiped out after the storm’s devastating path.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Rolling Fork resident Brandy Showah told Trends Wide. “This was a very big little town, and now it’s gone.”
At least 13 deaths were reported about 60 miles northwest of Jackson in hard-hit Sharkey County, home to the Rolling Fork, according to county coroner Angelia Easton.
Three other people have died and at least two people are in critical condition in Humphreys County, Emergency Management Director Royce Steed told Trends Wide on Saturday morning.
In Carroll County, three people were killed at a home, coroner Mark Stiles told Trends Wide, adding that it appears they were killed by a tornado. And two people died in Monroe County, northeast Mississippi, coroner Alan Gurley said.
In the devastated Rolling Fork, the tornado damaged homes and buildings, downed trees and downed power lines in the area, Showah said. The tornado was moving at 50 mph when it moved over the city shortly after 8 p.m. CT, the weather service said.
Showah’s grandmother’s house suffered roof damage and her air conditioners were blown out, Showah said, but her grandmother is safe. Most of the trees in her grandmother’s yard were felled, including one that her grandfather planted 50 years ago.
“My friend was trapped in her house a few houses down, but we got her out,” Showah said, adding that there are still people living with her grandmother trapped in their homes. She said that all energy in her grandmother’s area was removed.
Trends Wide has reached out to Rolling Fork officials for additional details.
The severe storms ripped a ruinous path across the region, trapping people in their homes, sparking search-and-rescue efforts and knocking out power in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.
Downed trees and storm debris litter and block roads. Homes and buildings were nearly leveled, with appliances, furniture and clothing dumped where the walls or roofs of houses once were, videos of the scene show.
The same “large and destructive” tornado was also confirmed near the community of Coila, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a tornado emergency, the most dangerous type of tornado warning, in Rolling Fork, Silver City and nearby Anguilla. .
There have been at least 11 tornado reports in Mississippi and Alabama in the last 24 hours, according to the Storm Prediction Center. These reports include the storm that affected Rolling Fork, Silver City, and Winona in Mississippi.
MHP Greenwood
It is not yet clear if it was a long track tornado or if the storms spawned multiple tornadoes. The National Weather Service plans to survey the damage.
Mississippi deploys search and rescue plan
In response to the devastation in Mississippi, the state has activated its medical support efforts, including additional ambulances and other emergency resources for those affected by the onslaught of deadly storms, Governor Tate Reeves tweeted late Friday.
“Search and rescue is active,” Reeves wrote. “Many in MS Delta need your prayers and God’s protection tonight.”
Tornadoes or severe storms that occur at night have the greatest potential to be dangerous because people are less likely to be notified in time if they are asleep.
A tornado touched down in Silver City, MS, in Humphreys County. (M.H.P. Greenwood)
The threat of severe thunderstorms persisted overnight in certain areas of northern Alabama and central Tennessee, which faced tornado watches and warnings early Saturday.
The storms knocked out power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee as of 3:45 a.m. (Eastern Time), with more than 50,000 outages reported in Alabama alone, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us.
In Morgan County, Alabama, debris from the storm spread for about a mile, according to a tweet from the county sheriff’s office.
State Response Update as of 9:40pm (3.24):
-Search and Rescue assets are deploying to Sharkey and Humphreys Co
-Health assets assessing local hospital in Sharkey
– Human services assessing the needs of those affected
– Damage assessments to begin in the morning— msema (@MSEMA) March 25, 2023
First responders rescued seven people who were trapped in a group home when trees and power lines collapsed on the homes, the sheriff’s office said. The agency also responded to an overturned trailer and an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside.
Trends Wide meteorologists Taylor Ward and Haley Brink contributed to this report.
