Mississippi reels from deadly tornadoes | Weather News
Mississippi residents began cleanup operations Sunday after a devastating tornado swept through the state, killing at least 26 people, destroying homes and wiping out much of the small town of Rolling Fork.
US President Joe Biden declare a state of emergency and ordered federal aid to Mississippi Sunday morning to aid recovery efforts.
With at least 26 deaths in Mississippi, the tornadoes that devastated parts of the Deep South overnight were the deadliest tornado in the state in more than a decade, according to Time Service records. National Weather Service (NWS).
By comparison, 31 people died in Mississippi in April 2011 in tornadoes that tore through several states, mainly in the southeastern United States, NWS meteorologist Chris Outler said Saturday. Alabama was hardest hit in a so-called “super outbreak” of hundreds of tornadoes that killed more than 320 people and caused an estimated $12 billion in damage.
Just a month later, another deadly tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people. Outler called 2011 “the year of tornado outbreaks in the last 20 years or so”.
The sheriff’s office in Morgan County, Alabama reported one hurricane-related death on Saturday, bringing the total number of people killed in overnight storms to at least 26.