Ten killed and homes reduced to rubble as mile-wide tornado tears across Mississippi

By Mail Foreign Service

Destroyed: Homes along the north shore of Eagle Lake in Warren County north of Vicksburg


A baby and two children are among 10 people killed after a one-mile-wide tornado ripped across Mississippi last night.

Scores of people have been injured and many are still trapped in their homes as the high winds reduced properties to rubble.

The severe weather conditions ripped trees from the ground and forced vehicles from the road, blocking highways and causing chaos.

Derailed: A train at the Tallulah Port on Port Elevator Road in Madison is forced over by the strong winds


A train was derailed and thousands of houses have been left without power as heavy thunderstorms swept across 150 miles and 13 counties, causing scenes of ‘utter obliteration’.

Five people died in Choctaw County – including the three children aged three months, nine and 14 - four in Yazoo County and one in Holmes County. Scores of others were injured.

Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency after what is first major U.S. tornado of the year.

‘It has done huge damage around Yazoo City,’ he said.


Homeless: Alberta Harris helped to rescue her neighbour when his home in Yazoo City was destroyed


‘We have fatalities, a number of people that we're still trying to rescue who are trapped in buildings.

'But it is a major, significant tornado ... and it did some huge damage.'

The county’s sheriff’s department will be sending 12 deputies and 100 inmates to help clear debris.

The Hinds County Sheriff's Department is sending 12 deputies and 100 inmates to help with the rescue mission.

The severe weather began in Louisiana, just across the state line from Mississippi when a tornado destroyed 12 homes and warehouses.


After the storm: A muddy puppy lies in the sun amidst the rubble of its home on in Franklin County


Devastation: A church in Yazoo City has been razed to the ground


Rescue mission: A military helicopter carrying emergency workers hovers over some of the destruction in Yazoo City


The storm system moved east, with the twister hitting nearby Yazoo County, Mississippi, killing four people.

In adjacent Holmes County, another person was killed. Farther northeast, a tornado hit Choctaw County, where another five victims were reported.

Meteorologists said it was too soon to tell whether it was a single tornado or several short ones that caused the devastation.

Mitchell Saxton, the owner of Ribeye's Steak House in Yazoo City, told how he survived as the storm destroyed his business.

He said: ‘The roof was caving in, TVs flying off the shelves and it was horrible.


Damage: A line of trees snapped in half reveals the path of the tornado in Holmes County


‘We got in the walk-in freezer, sat in there for about 10 minutes. When I came out it was really bad. Just thanking the good Lord I'm here.’

Yazoo County's coroner, Ricky Shivers, attended to the dead after his own truck was picked up by the winds and flipped over, leaving him with cuts and bruises.

Essie Hendrix, manager of Peebles department store in Yazoo City, said she and other employees were inside with 15 customers when the tornado struck.

‘It was like a rumbling and a roaring and stuff was falling,’ she said.

‘It sounded like it was going to suck us out of there. It lasted about two minutes, but it felt like it lasted an hour.’


Homes have been destroyed and trees ripped from the ground in Yazoo City


Deadly: Three vehicles forced from northbound Interstate 55 in Holmes County


Tornadoes were also reported in Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama, and the severe weather continued to track north-eastward today as gusty winds also downed trees crossing northwest Georgia.

A man told how he made a miraculous escape from the storm by hiding under his church pulpit.

Dale Thrasher was painting the walls of Hillcrest Baptist Church, in Yazoo City, when the tornado landed.

‘I went into the sanctuary and got under the pulpit table and the whole building fell around me,’ he said.

After the storm had passed the whole building had collapsed but Mr Thrasher was uninjured.

‘Three little scratches - the Lord blessed me,’ he said.
‘I was about to go into the kitchen but the Lord directed me to the sanctuary.’

Four patients from Yazoo County have been airlifted to safety in a military helicopter and some 20 others were taken to hospitals. At least four people are still in a critical condition - the figure is expected to rise.


source: dailymail