ROLLING FORK, Miss. – At least two massive and catastrophic tornadoes ripped through Mississippi Friday night, striking a devastating blow to several towns caught their paths stretching over 100 miles and leaving at least 14 dead with fears the death toll will climb much higher.
The twister began its terrifying march in the town of Rolling Fork, where a Tornado Emergency, which is the most dire of tornado alerts, was issued. Storm spotters reported the tornado was at least a mile wide as it approached the town.
Fred Miller, the former mayor of Rolling Fork, said much of the town has been destroyed.
“The west part of Rolling Fork is a residential area, and just a number of houses over there have been completely destroyed,” Miller said. “Highway 61, where most of our businesses are, all of the businesses on 61 have been completely destroyed. People are trapped in a couple of the eateries, and people are trying to get them out now.”
Eight deaths have been counted in the Rolling Fork area.
Eric Tole, a storm chaser with Live Storms Media, said he and his chase partners helped pull seven people, including a child, from the rubble of a restaurant in the town.
“Gas lines are broke – they’re spewing, you can smell it in the air,” Tole said. “It’s pretty bad. (The town) got hit pretty bad.”
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Brett Adair, FOX Weather’s field meteorologist who was chasing the storm, reported significant damage in Silver City, Mississippi, about 30 miles northeast of Rolling Fork.
“We had the drone up in the air and saw this massive tornado coming in, probably 5 or 6 miles away, and then just watched numerous explosions as it came across the highway here in Silver City.”
Brandon Clement, also a storm chaser with Live Storms Media, said he was following the storm as it moved through Tchula, about 50 miles northeast of Rolling Fork. He said the storm appeared to miss the heart of the town.
“Unfortunately, we saw some extreme examples of what tornadoes can do tonight, and it’s not over yet.”
Christopher Jackson, another storm chaser with Live Storms Media, was following the storm as it ripped through the town of Winona. He said he has seen a damage path that is about a half-mile wide.
A second tornado, which appeared to have originated from the same storm that caused the first twister, ripped through the eastern Mississippi towns of Amory and Smithville. The National Weather Service reported significant damage in those towns.
State emergency managers said search and rescue teams were deployed to Sharkey and Humphreys counties to look for storm victims, and hospitals are being assessed in Sharkey County.
More than 24,000 power outages have been reported across Mississippi, according to poweroutage.us.
“For Mississippi, it’s devastating,” Tole said. “Our heart goes out to everyone affected in Mississippi tonight because that tornado was bad.”
Radar analysis by FOX Weather showed that one twister has been on the ground for at least 53 miles from the first debris detection near Rolling Fork about 8 p.m. CDT to just after 9 p.m. CDT northeast of Tchula. By 10 p.m. CDT, the tornado had been on the ground for about 80 miles. A second tornado lifted not long after it moved into Alabama.
Radar scans estimated debris tossed as high as 20,000 feet into the air over a 1.5-mile-wide swirl that tore across the state at 65 mph.
While the strongest tornadoes reported so far were in Mississippi, twisters reportedly touched down in Tennessee and Alabama as the storm system raced east.
In Fayetteville, Tennessee, a possible tornado knocked over several trees and damaged a hospital, according to the National Weather Service.
In Alabama, several structures were damaged in Hartselle, including damage to a group home that left 6-7 people trapped inside, according to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office. They’ve since been rescued. Another person became trapped inside an overturned camper.
Yet another tornado was observed in the Cottonville area, according to the NWS.
The cold front that triggered the deadly tornadoes moves into Georgia, South Carolina and the Florida Panhandle Saturday, but the threat for dangerous weather is considerably lower than Friday.
That said, a few severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday across parts of the Southeast and Ohio Valley, and then on Sunday in parts of the South once again.
Quarter size-hail and wind gusts to 60 mph are the greatest threat with these storms.