DisastersCleanup starts after Mississippi tornado, storms
Emergency officials in Mississippi spent Monday dealing with the damage after a number of storms and a tornado ripped through the southern section of the state, injuring at least sixty people. No deaths were reported.
Tornado funnel touches down in Hattiesburg, MS // Source: al-mehdyoon.org
Emergency officials in Mississippi spent Monday dealing with the damage after a number of storms and a tornado ripped through the southern section of the state, injuring at least sixty people. No deaths were reported.
ABC News reports that Governor Phil Bryant planned to visit Hattiesburg where the tornado hit and damaged buildings at the University of Southern Mississippi, Bryant’s alma mater.
Bryant said during a news conference that many homes and mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Bryant also said that tornado sirens went off almost thirty minutes before the twister hit, giving people time to find shelter and protection. The University of Southern Mississippi was on Mardi Gras holiday, so there were fewer students on campus.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said the tornado caused damage in Forrest, Marion, and Lamar counties and although the cleanup has begun, it is hard to determine the extent of the damage
“The problem is, it was so strong that there’s so much debris that there’s a lot of areas they haven’t been able to get to yet,” Flynn told the media.
Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee says between ten and fifteen people in the county were injured by the tornado, but none of them were serious.
“Most of our injuries have been walking wounded,” McGee told ABC News. “There’s quite a few homes without power at this point, quite a few trees on houses, on cars, that type of thing.”
As of Monday, 4,000 customers were without electricity, an improvement from more than 14,000 on Saturday according to Mississippi Power spokesman Mark Davis.
Sarah Lawrence, a Hattiesburg resident, said that the storm sounded like “stuff being thrown.”
“Within seconds, everything changed,” Lawrence told ABC News. “I didn’t feel like there was much notice. I heard the sirens and everything looked OK outside, so I started making preparations to go into the bathroom. And then, next thing I know, all the lights went out, and it got dark outside.”
This YouTube video shows the tornado from a distance as people took shelter in a store.
