Mississippi man says tornado blew out his windows, sent debris flying into his face

Record ID: 1717258

  • Title: Mississippi man says tornado blew out his windows, sent debris flying into his face
  • Date: 26th March 2023
  • Summary: ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES (MARCH 26, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE STARTING OFF CAMERA) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "Scary, huh? You always hear about it and hear about it may sound like a train or just... just a distinct sound, but it happens so fast you really don't even have time to even think about it. You can't reflect on that kind of stuff. But it was scary. It was fast. This all happened in a matter of maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute from the place where it landed to when it was across town. But once it hit our house, it was probably 10 seconds. Then it was gone. And once I look out the window, I thought my whole town had been destroyed, which it mostly was. So." (SOUNDBITE STARTING WITH SUBJECT'S BACK TO CAMERA) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "Yes, Yes. I actually was born on this street here, a few houses down. And I grew up over here where we're walking to. All of this was trailers, were houses. This was a store. This is the neighborhood laundromat. This is where people paid their bills. It used to be, we call it, Sound Waves. It used to be a video store." (SOUNDBITE FINISHING OFF CAMERA) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "You can see that truck there. That's my brother. He's a truck driver. All of those trucks right there are his trucks. So his whole livelihood is just sitting in a pile of dirt." VARIOUS OF ROLLING FORK RESIDENT BROTHER'S TRUCKS DESTROYED IN TORNADOE (SOUNDBITE WHILE SUBJECT IS WALKING) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "She has a central room. Her room is the center part of the house. So, once the tornado started, once I could hear it, I told my mom and my three nieces and nephews to run to her room. And as soon as I could close the doors and get them in there, the lights went out, and I heard a big sound, and it's just windows blew out, debris flying, hitting us in the face. I just covered them, grabbed them, and was hoping we didn't fly away. But as soon as I said it, 10 seconds later, everything was over." ROLLING FORK RESIDENT'S MOTHER'S HOUSE (SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY OFF CAMERA) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "So this window was the only window into the room that we were living in, I mean, that we had to take refuge in. Once that blew out, all of the debris from the tornado just swept into that room. I thought the roof was gone, but it was actually that window that was open." (SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY OFF CAMERA) ROLLING FORK RESIDENT, JEFF RUSSELL, SAYING: "I think this... my brother came and pulled this piece right here out of the wall. This was stuck in this wall. So the torpedo knocked the brick out and hit right here. So if it would have kept going, it was going right to the bay where we were laying down, trying to seek shelter. So, all I can say is we were totally blessed. This is an experience that I don't wish on nobody. We lost a lot of lives. Hopefully, people will pray for them, pray for their families, and one day we'll get over it. We will... We won't forget it. But we will... We will get back to a normal state, hopefully." RUSSELL'S MOTHER'S VEHICLE PARKED IN FRONT OF HER GARAGE TILT FROM GLASS TO BOARDED-UP WINDOW IN RUSSELL MOTHER'S HOME RUSSEL'S VEHICLE DESTROYED IN TORNADO
  • Embargoed: 9th April 2023 20:50
  • Keywords: distaster storm survivor tornado weather
  • Location: ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES
  • City: ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001040726032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Rescuers combed through rubble on Saturday (March 25) after a powerful storm tore across Mississippi late on Friday (March 24), killing at least 25 people there and one person in Alabama as it leveled hundreds of buildings and spawned at least one devastating tornado.
    The tornado stayed on the ground for about an hour and cut a path of destruction some 170 miles (274 km) long, according to Nicholas Price, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi.
    In Rolling Fork, a town of around 1,900 in western Mississippi that was hit the hardest, homes were reduced to rubble, tree trunks snapped like twigs, and cars were tossed aside like toys. The town's water tower lay twisted on the ground.
    In Silver City, a rural community of around 300, residents described locking themselves in interior rooms and cowering inside bathtubs as the tornado swept through.
    (Production: Aleksandra Michalska)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register