Governor Phil Bryant has declared a state of Emergency after 17 counties were affected from severe storms and tornadoes over the weekend. While 17 counties throughout the state suffered damages, two of the hardest hit areas were Monroe and Warren counties.
Greg Michel, Executive Director of MEMA said they are working diligently to help those affected by the weather.
“Right now we are still on the tail end of the response effort,” said Michel. “We will begin damage assessments as early as today and then over the next couple of weeks, we will be doing damage assessments on these 17 counties in the state that were affected by this. We will be collecting data and seeking federal disaster grants to help them overcome some of this damage.”
One person died as a result of the storm in Monroe and 19 storm-related injuries were reported across the state as well. Michel said per his latest information, eight people were in the hospital after two of those individuals received critical but non-life threatening injuries.
Both Monroe and Warren County schools are closed on Monday due to ongoing power outages and debris on the roads.
With seven confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said there were two EF-2 tornadoes that touched down in the city of Vicksburg with another EF-2 confirmed in Winston and Oktibbeha Counties. An additional three EF-1 tornadoes were confirmed in Mathiston, Starkville, and Thomastown with only one EF-0 tornado confirmed just south of Mantee.
Survey results from yesterday:
Two EF-2 tornadoes have been confirmed within the city of Vicksburg. pic.twitter.com/goS0cL9LJk— NWS Jackson MS (@NWSJacksonMS) April 15, 2019
