LOUISVILLE, Miss.–Tuesday’s recovery efforts in Louisville and Tupelo began with the ominous word that more tornadoes could be coming and a tornado watch for the afternoon. Still, crews didn’t stop working to process donations and search for several people who were missing after the storms. Now, a break in the weather that could last all week.
The forecast for the area hardest hit by the storms, the northeast quarter of Mississippi, is for near 70 degrees and much less humidity. That was expected to last through Friday.
Temps were expected to be back at the 80 degree mark by Saturday, but no rain was in the forecast at least through Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service Tweeted out a preliminary map of the worst tornadoes and their paths, along with preliminary death numbers.
That totaled 8 when the map was released. At a MEMA press conference Tuesday afternoon, that official number had gone up to 12.
The strongest tornado to hit Mississippi was the one that hit Louisville. That was an EF4, with winds near 200 mph. It was an EF3 that hit Tupelo, initially rated an EF2. It was an EF3 that hit Ranking County.
The tornado deaths were in Winston County (9), Rankin County (1), Issaquena County (1) and in Lee County (1).
That number could go up as assessments continue.
