Mississippi residents began cleanup operations Sunday after a destructive tornado tore through the state, killing at least 26 people and destroying homes and largely leveling the small town of Rolling Fork.
US President Joe Biden declared an emergency and ordered federal aid to Mississippi Sunday morning to support recovery efforts.
With at least 26 people dead in Mississippi, the tornadoes that ripped through parts of the Deep South overnight were the deadliest in the state in more than a decade, according to National Weather Service (NWS) records.
By comparison, 31 people died in Mississippi in April 2011 during tornadoes that tore through several states, mostly in the southeastern United States, NWS meteorologist Chris Outler said Saturday. Alabama was hardest hit during the so-called “super outbreak” of hundreds of tornadoes that killed more than 320 people and caused an estimated $12 billion in damage.
Just a month later, another deadly tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people. Outler called 2011 “the top year for tornadoes in the last 20 years.”
The sheriff’s office in Morgan County, Alabama, reported one storm-related death on Saturday, bringing the overall total during overnight storms to at least 26.
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