Search and rescue efforts are under way after one of the deadliest tornados to have ever hit the US state of Mississippi.
At least 24 people have died following Friday night’s tornado, with more thought to be trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The twister caused devastation in several rural towns, tearing down trees and power lines.
Several southern states are also braced for powerful storms.
The storm system which ripped through Mississippi produced a tornado that has caused catastrophic damage to communities across the state. The biggest twister obliterated dozens of buildings in several small towns, flipping cars on their sides and toppling power lines.
One of those small towns, Rolling Fork, located in Sharkey County in western Mississippi, has essentially been wiped out, according to its mayor.
“My city is gone,” Mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN. “But we’re resilient and we’re going to come back.”
He added that lots of families in his community were “affected and hurting”, and all he could see was “devastation”.
Rolling Fork residents said windows were blown out of the back of their homes.
Local resident Brandy Showah told CNN: “I’ve never seen anything like this… This was a very great small town, and now it’s gone.”
Cornel Knight told the Associated Press that he, his wife and their three-year-old daughter were at a relative’s home in Rolling Fork and that it was “eerily quiet” just before the tornado struck. He said the sky was dark but “you could see the direction from every transformer that blew”.
He said the tornado struck another relative’s house, where a wall collapsed and trapped several people inside.
Mississippi state governor Tate Reeves is on his way to Sharkey County to meet with affected residents first hit by the tornado’s fury.
Sharing an update on Twitter, Mr Reeves described the situation as a “tragedy”, writing: “We are blessed with brave, capable responders and loving neighbours. Please continue to pray.”
US President Joe Biden described the images coming out of Mississippi as “heartbreaking”, adding that the federal government “will do everything we can to help”.
“We will be there as long as it takes. We will work together to deliver the support you need to recover,” he said in a statement.
It is not yet clear whether one or several tornadoes hit the area on Friday night. Although yesterday the National Weather Service warned that several tornadoes were forecast, it is possible the devastation was caused by a “skipping tornado” – a single twister that lifts from the surface only to touch down again.
Sam Emmerson from the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma said that the “extremely high-calibre” tornado lofted debris above 30,000ft (9144m).
One local weather forecaster, concerned at the strength of a tornado about to hit the town of Amery, momentarily paused his TV forecast to offer a prayer for the residents of the town.
Source: BBC
