Jackson, Miss– The threat of severe weather has passed, and now the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) have damage to survey.
Reports of damage came in from Calhoun, Grenada, Scott, and Winston Counties, with surveyors also being sent Wednesday to evaluate damage reports in Noxubee and Clay Counties, where damage reports came in later last night.
MEMA confirmed damage early Tuesday night in Calhoun, Grenada, Scott, and Winston counties.
The extent of the damage across the state can only be determined when crews from MEMA and NWS are able to get clear visibility as the sun comes up.
“What we do, is we get the damage reports from the county,” said Joann Culin with NWS. “Then we look to see how that matches up on radar and then we send a team out to those locations.”
Culin said the teams are then responsible for following the exact track of the storm to determine what type of storm it was, and the strength.
“A lot of people think that because they have trees down or wind damage, that they had a tornado,” said Culin. “That’s not always the case. 60 to 70 mile per hour wind gusts do the same thing.”
Culin said the teams will compare the radar to damage reports and walk through the damage, re-enacting how the rotation or straight line winds would have caused the damage.
Within the damage, there are oftentimes power lines that fall as a result. When cleaning up debris, it is best to leave power line removal to the pros.
“Our power lines are designed with devices that are supposed to turn the power off, basically, if the line falls down,” said Joey Lee with Entergy.
Even still, Lee said downed lines should be reported and left up to the professionals to move.
ORIGINAL: Mississippians have braced for a night of severe weather statewide that could bring tornadoes.
MEMA has announced that the Forrest Co. safe room is open.
MEMA has certified some damage following the first round of storms Tuesday night.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has received damage reports from early evening severe weather in Mississippi. Several counties have damage to homes and power outages. No injuries are being reported.
Residents need to remain alert as a second round of severe storms are forecast to move through the state later tonight.
Counties reporting damage:
- Calhoun: Widespread power outages.
- Grenada: Homes damaged.
- Scott: Homes damaged.
- Winston: Six homes damaged.
Damage assessments continue by county emergency managers.
The State Emergency Operations Center is staffed and monitoring conditions and requests for resources from counties.
Some damage has been reported in Winston county.
Winston County EMA Director Buddy King reports 4 homes destroyed on Ebenezer Church Road…no injuries.
— Cody Long (@CodyLongWTVA) November 30, 2016
The safe room in Rankin county is now open.
The Jones county safe room will be open open at 9pm.
The National Weather Service has urged Mississippians to stay vigilant Tuesday night.
A message from our MIC Bill Parker ” stay vigilant tonight”. pic.twitter.com/zWNghklvDl
— NWS Jackson MS (@NWSJacksonMS) November 30, 2016
Pictures have poured in via social media of damage, hail, and tornadoes.
This doesn’t look great. 8 miles west of Winnsboro. @NWSJacksonMS pic.twitter.com/eBia7xDDny
— Matt Reynolds (@ByMattReynolds) November 29, 2016
“Hwy 51 in Grenada” from @NMSCAS David earlier. You can see hail on the ground. Reported quarter size hail. #mswx pic.twitter.com/I7MFG6tdFf
— Katie Burch (@WTVAKatie) November 29, 2016
