From BZ/afp
According to official information, at least 23 people were killed and dozens injured in a tornado and severe storms in the southern US state of Mississippi on Friday evening (local time).
Rescue work was underway in several counties, rescue workers and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said. It is to be expected that the number of fatalities “unfortunately will still change”, warned the rescue workers of the US state. At least four people are still missing.
According to official information, the tornado caused power outages in tens of thousands of households and, according to reports from local residents, wiped out entire settlements. “My town is gone,” Mayor Eldridge Walker of Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, told CNN. When he was finally able to leave his house, he found “devastation all around”.
Television footage showed houses being leveled and rubble in the streets while search parties combed the area for survivors. Rescue operations ran on Saturday in several counties located about 110 kilometers north of Jackson, the state capital. The material extent of the devastation will probably not be known until Sunday.
The tornado apparently came unexpectedly for many residents of the region: the US weather service forecast issued tornado warnings for some places in Mississippi on Friday, but on Saturday night (local time) reported that the situation had calmed down. “Further showers and rainstorms are expected in our area,” the weather service reported on Twitter, but “they are not expected to be severe.”
It is feared that the number of victims will increase significantly Photo: Rogelio Solis/AP
Just a few days ago, a tornado near Los Angeles in the US state of California caused considerable destruction. Wednesday’s storm ripped off houses and spun cars amid what was an unusually violent storm for the region.