Multiple tornadoes were reported in Mississippi on Wednesday as devastating storms caused significant destruction across the central and western parts of the state.
A tornado emergency was issued for several counties in Mississippi on Wednesday evening by the National Weather Service, cautioning that the tornado was capable of “deadly damage” and that “complete destruction was possible,” reported WAFB News. Others warned that the tornado emergency was a “life-threatening situation.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) urged citizens to be vigilant and continuously “monitor emergency alerts throughout the night.” He also asked for prayers for the people in his state in a post on X.
“Multiple tornadoes have been reported throughout Central and West Mississippi. Please continue to monitor emergency alerts throughout the night,” Reeves said.
“Pray for Mississippi!” he added.
In other reports regarding Mississippi tornadoes, a “large and violent tornado” reportedly hit the ground around 9 p.m. local time. News agencies, meteorologists, and weather forecasters urged anyone in the storm’s path to take cover in a basement or lower level of a house, away from windows.
Other accounts claimed the tornadoes demolished multiple houses. Emergency responders in one Mississippi county reported that a one-year-old child was missing in the aftermath of one tornado, reported WJTV.
A mobile home park in Bogue Chitto, Mississippi, was reportedly “flattened” by the tornado. Other emergency county personnel and first responders said that some people were trapped in debris following the storm, and hazardous conditions were making it difficult to access certain victims and slowing overall response times.
“I was just watching TikTok on my bed and thought it was thunder,” said Max Mahaffey, a resident for ten years of a mobile park home hit by the tornado. “I went to my living room. I went back to my room, and the room’s gone.”
As people in the state recover overnight from the tornadoes, multiple school districts in Mississippi canceled classes on Thursday as a precaution due to damage from the storm.