ROLLING FORK, UNITED STATES (AFP) – Storm-ravaged Mississippi struggled on Sunday with the aftermath of a huge tornado that tore across the southern United States (US) state, killing at least 25 people, with devastated communities bracing for a fresh bout of extreme weather.
Search-and-rescue workers surveyed the damage of shredded homes, flattened buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all but wiped out by nature’s wrath.
After US President Joe Biden freed up disaster aid, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents of Mississippi and neighbouring Alabama of potential new “supercell thunderstorms” through late on Sunday that could “produce a few strong tornadoes and very large hail”.
The NWS gave Friday’s tornado, which left a trail of havoc more than 160 kilometres (km) long across the state, a rating of four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with ferocious winds of up to 320km per hour. Dozens of people have also been injured, and officials said the death toll could rise.
Before-and-after satellite images released late on Sunday showed utter ruin across parts of Rolling Fork, with homes destroyed and trees ripped out of the earth. The American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork hours after the storm razed much of the town, home to around 2,000 people.
An area was set up as an infirmary and boxes full of food and medical supplies were shuttled in to support storm victims who had lost everything, said a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi John Brown.
The severe weather also left a man dead in Alabama when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the sheriff’s office in Morgan County said.
