Mississippi storm: Deadly tornado kills 26

A massive tornado roared across Mississippi on 24th March, leaving a deadly path of destruction in its wake.

The tornado struck on Friday night, 24th March at around 8:50 pm local time. 26 deaths have been reported so far, with dozens more injured. More people are missing.

The hardest hit location was Rolling Fork, Mississippi, a rural farming town with a population of around 1900 in the Mississippi Delta region of western Mississippi. The highest death toll occurred here.

Rescue teams are reporting well-built brick homes wiped clear of their slabs, Rolling Fork’s city water tower knocked down and vehicles thrown onto homes and trees.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center had the area in a moderate risk —level 4 out of 5 — since the day before and a tornado watch had been posted in advance too.

Numerous tornado warnings, including a tornado emergency, were issued as the storm approached the town.

Doppler radar detected the tornado, and a storm chaser was able to see the massive wedge tornado that left a wide swath of devastation over a 270 km distance in just over an hour.

The National Weather Service surveyed the damage and destruction and deemed the tornado an EF-4 rating, with wind gusts between 166 and 200 mph.

This tornado was part of a wider storm system that produced at least one other tornado in northern Alabama and destructive winds in Arkansas, northern Louisiana, Tennessee, and western North Carolina. More than 70,000 customers were without power.