The National Weather Service provided an update on the weekend storms that struck portions of Mississippi, noting the Magnolia State saw 22 tornadoes touch down on Saturday alone.
“As of Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service has confirmed 22 tornadoes touched down on December 28 in Mississippi,” a press release from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency noted.
According to MEMA, which continues to compile damage assessments and deploy resources, over 150 homes and 12 businesses experienced damage in Adams, Amite, Clay, Clarke, Franklin, Harrison, Jackson, Leake, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Perry, Scott, Smith, Rankin, Warren, Wayne, Wilkinson, and Yazoo counties.
The swath of severe weather also brought with it thousands of power outages and resulted in two fatalities and 10 injuries. The fatalities came in Adams County, where a Natchez high schooler died, and in Lowndes County, where an elderly woman on oxygen lost power and could not survive the medical emergency.
“It was a very busy, active night, and it’s unfortunate we saw two people lose their lives to it,” MEMA chief communications officer Malary White recounted on Monday morning. “We just urge people to be patient with the first responders and those who are currently trying to restore power.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, over 10,000 customers remained without power – down from a crux of over 100,000 seeing their lights go off due to the storms. Outages mostly remain in southwestern Mississippi, specifically Amite, Franklin, Simpson, and Wilkinson counties.
MEMA’s latest damage report in full is as follows:
- Adams – 20 homes, 1 death
- Amite – 4 homes, 1 business, 1 farm
- Clay – 28 homes
- Clarke – 15 homes, 1 business
- Franklin – 14 homes, 2 businesses, 1 farm
- Harrison – 6 homes
- Jackson – 10 homes, 1 business
- Leake – 2 homes
- Lowndes – 1 home, 1 death
- Oktibbeha – 6 homes, 19 apartments, 5 businesses
- Perry – 1 home, 1 farm
- Scott – 5 homes, 5 farms
- Smith – 9 homes, 3 farms
- Rankin – 17 homes, 3 apartments, 1 business
- Warren – 1 home
- Wayne – 33 homes, 1 business, 1 farm
- Wilkinson – 2 homes, 1 apartment
- Yazoo – 8 homes, 2 farms
MEMA encourages residents who received damage from the storms and tornadoes to file an insurance claim, take photos of the damage, and report it to the agency through the self-report tool if they haven’t done so already.
