Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms ripped through Mississippi on Wednesday night, damaging more than 1,000 buildings, toppling trees and injuring at least four people, state officials said.
The damage was reported after the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for several cities and counties across the state. At one point the agency issued a “particularly dangerous situation” designation — a term it uses only when the strongest tornadoes are possible — for Franklin and Adams counties in the state’s southwest.
As many as 815 buildings were damaged in Franklin and Lincoln counties, and the storm left debris and fallen power lines across some roads, Scott Simmons, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told 16 WAPT News on Wednesday.
In Lincoln County, debris prompted transportation officials to shut down southbound lanes on part of Interstate 55 for several hours, according to the state’s transportation department.
And in Lamar County — around 100 miles southeast of Jackson, the state capital — a tornado had damaged around 250 buildings, including a church, and injured four people as of 11 p.m., according to James Smith, the county director for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. One person was hospitalized to receive stitches, but all of the injuries were minor, he said in a phone interview.
Several people called emergency services for rescue after trees fell on their homes and trapped them under debris, but they extricated themselves before responders arrived, Mr. Smith said, adding that the worst of the tornado seemed to be over.
At least 21,000 customers across the state, mostly in the southwest, were experiencing power outages early Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.com.
Before 1 a.m. local time, a severe thunderstorm was moving east at 40 miles per hour and hail the size of nickels was falling across Perry and Greene counties, according to the Weather Service.
Overnight, the storm system made its way into Alabama. The state’s Emergency Management Agency said the state could expect possible heavy rainfall, large hail and a few tornadoes through early Thursday. A tornado watch for some counties in Alabama and Mississippi, indicating a lower level of danger than a tornado warning, was in effect until 6 a.m.
Jin Yu Young is a reporter and researcher for The Times, based in Seoul, covering South Korea and international breaking news.
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