Four people died in Jefferson Davis County during Sunday’s tornado outbreak. The town of Bassfield was hit the hardest. Alderman Angie Ladner says the damage across her area is extensive. She says Mississippians are coming together to help neighbors recover from the storm.
“Today there’s been so many people that have come by in the community that are saying ‘My home’s gone, I have nothing. I have no food. I have no clothes. I have no toothpaste. Nothing.’ We knew it had affected a lot of people, but I guess seeing the people come in, and visibly seeing people left and right, not just social media, but real live people coming in. And it’s just devastating.”
The national weather service estimates 13 tornados swept across the state. Knocked down trees and debris are blocking roads and have slowed the survey process. Meteorologist Chad Entremont is with the National Weather Service.
"We had three different teams out mostly in Southern Mississippi. That’s kinda the path where the two really large supercell thunderstorms with tornados associated with them had moved through. It’s still gonna take us some time. There’s only small sections of each of those paths that we’ve been able to assess and start to look at.”
Greg Michel, Director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, says hundreds of homes have been damaged, and thousands are without power.
“We have not seen damage or a storm of this nature in quite some time. 11 Fatalities. 1 fatality is too many, but 11 fatalities is a devastating storm. Given the amount of damage and the existence of trees that have been down, opening roads back up for emergency crews and utility crews has been paramount. But there’s a lot of work still yet to be done in these areas.”
The red cross and local emergency management agencies are helping to provide shelter for residents who have lost their homes. To report damage, residents can use MEMA’s online self-reporting tool.
