November is the second worst month for tornadoes in Mississippi, and officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are urging residents to prepare for severe weather even as some parts of the state are still trying to recover from previous storms.
On April 28th, a series of tornadoes swept through the state killing 14 people. The storms also destroyed more than 1,100 homes and nearly 250 business. Debbie Love Lee is from Louisville, one of the areas hardest hit by the April storms.
“By the time everything was over, this house sounded like somebody was going around just beating it with bats and clubs and glass breaking simultaneously all around the house,” says Lee. “I’ve come to understand that even though it happened and even though it was rough, it’s a new beginning too.”
As Lee and countless others across the state continue to recover from the April tornadoes, officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are urging residents to prepare for severe weather. Greg Flynn is with MEMA. He says the change in temperatures has the ability to bring on devastating storms.
“November is number two in Mississippi for most active for tornadoes; April being number one,” Flynn says. “Anytime we get these clashes of seasons, where we go from 85 one day to 35 the next, there is always the potential for a storm system to be turbulent [and] violent. That’s why we seen so many tornadoes in the past in November.”
MEMA normally recommends residents have an emergency kit with enough food and water for three days. Flynn says preparing a kit for the winter might be a little different.
“If you have a generator, because we talk about generators during hurricane season, so that you’ll have something to power you house in the winter time,” says Flynn. “It’s even more important because you’ll be able to heat you house. So generators are a key thing.”
Since 1950, more than 200 hundred tornadoes have touched down in Mississippi during the month of November.
