Drone video shows buildings reduced to rubble from Mississippi tornado

Record ID: 1717306

  • Title: Drone video shows buildings reduced to rubble from Mississippi tornado
  • Date: 26th March 2023
  • Summary: ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES (MARCH 26, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) DRONE VIDEO OF DAMAGED BUILDING, DOWNED TREES AND HOUSES MISSING ROOFS PAN OF DOWNTOWN ROLLING FORK WITH MANY BUILDINGS MISSING ROOFS, PILES OF RUBBLE AND DOWNED STRUCTURE GROUND LEVEL DRONE VIDEO OF PILES OF DOWNED TREES, CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL, RUBBLE AND DOWNED STRUCTURE AND HEAVILY DAMAGED YELLOW HOUSE AERIAL OF WIDESPREAD DAMAGE WITH FLATTENED BUILDINGS AND HOUSES MISSING ROOFS PILE OF TWISTED METAL AERIAL VIEW OF TWISTED METAL AND RUBBLE NEXT TO ROAD GROUND LEVEL DRONE VIDEO OF TWISTED METAL AERIAL OF PILES OF RUBBLE WITH METAL, TREE LIMBS AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL VISIBLE
  • Embargoed: 9th April 2023 20:46
  • Keywords: CLIMATE CHANGE DRONE NATURAL DISASTER STORMS 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: LVA001038226032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Drone video shows much of the town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi reduced to rubble 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.
    Mississippi's emergency management agency said on Saturday afternoon that the death toll had risen to 25, with dozens more injured. Four people who had been reported missing earlier have been located, the agency said.
    At least 12 of those deaths occurred in Rolling Fork, its mayor, Eldridge Walker, told CNN earlier in the day. The city is 75% Black, and about one-fifth of the population lives below the federal poverty line, according to U.S. Census data.
    Governor Tate Reeves, who visited Silver City on Saturday, declared a state of emergency in the affected areas.
    U.S. President Joe Biden described the images from Mississippi as "heartbreaking" and said in a statement that he had spoken with Reeves and offered his condolences and full federal support for the recovery.
    The National Weather Service in Jackson has deployed teams to assess the damage and determine whether additional tornados touched down, according to Price, the meteorologist.
    At least 24 reports of tornadoes, stretching from western Mississippi into Alabama, were issued to the National Weather Service on Friday night and into Saturday morning by storm chasers and observers.
    (Production: Sandra Stojanovic, Arlene Eiras)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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