Deadly Tornado Strikes Mississippi As Storm System Moves East
A deadly tornado struck Mississippi on Thursday as a massive storm system moved east across the United States. The storm stretched from Michigan to Louisiana, though it was more destructive in the South.
The tornado struck Kemper County, Mississippi and killed at least one person, according to Mississippi’s Emergency Management Agency.
Along with at least one death, several other people were injured as the tornado caused extensive damage and destroyed at least one steel building. After it touched down in Kemper County, the tornado moved toward Alabama.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant offered his thoughts and prayers to those in the storm’s path and declared the state an emergency area.
The storm system has wreaked havoc on weather across the country, starting in Colorado on Tuesday. The storm has dropped snow in the Plains states, while it spawned thunderstorms in the Midwest and South. Some storms came with thunder, lightning, and damaging hail.
Tornadoes were also spawned across Missouri and Arkansas on Wednesday. They wrecked homes, downed trees, and injured several people in both states. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon was forced to declare a state of emergency after St. Louis suburbs were walloped by the storm.
While the deadly tornado struck Mississippi, another tornado destroyed mobile homes, uprooted trees, and overturned a semi in Noxubee County. A woman with the Kemper County dispatch stated of the storm, “Yes, we had a tornado. Yes, we have injuries. Yes, we have everything down – trees, houses, whatever – but we’re trying to deal with the injuries. Thank you.”
By Thursday afternoon, the massive storm had formed a T. It stretched from the Dakotas to New York and from Michigan to Louisiana. While snow fell up North, rain drenched the Ohio Valley and New Orleans. In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton called on the National Guard to help ice-bound Minnesotans. Freezing rain and ice took down several power lines and tree limbs in the state.
It is not yet clear how long it will take to clean up the damage left by the deadly tornado in Mississippi, or the other storm damage across the country.
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