Mississippi bore the brunt of a strong series of ferocious storms that swept across the south Friday night, with reports suggesting a tornado a mile wide had landed in the small town of Rolling Fork, trapping people in a path of destruction had.
Forecasters on Friday had warned residents in parts of the Midwest and South that dangerously strong winds were moving through the region, coupled with the possibility of damaging EF2 tornadoes with winds up to 135 miles per hour.
The worst fears came true just after 9pm on Friday night when a storm chaser managed to tweet that help was urgently needed in the area after the colossal storm trapped people in collapsed homes and businesses.
“Damage in Rolling Fork, Mississippi is BAD. People are trapped, we need help here,” Zachary Hall tweeted.
He later tweeted how police had stressed the urgency of the situation and asked him to break the news: “Big tornado damage we need as many ambulances as possible and all help for search and rescue in this city.”
A reporter at the scene reported how several people had been taken to hospital after barrages of storms leveled homes and destroyed businesses.
Mississippi bore the brunt of a strong series of ferocious storms that swept across the south Friday night, with reports suggesting a tornado a mile wide had made landfall in the small town of Rolling Fork
Piles of debris were seen in the small town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, after the tornado
Some residents of the tiny town seemed to stand around, dazed after the carnage
Skies over Pope, Mississippi looked particularly menacing Friday night where lightning could be seen
Forecasters on Friday had warned residents in parts of the Midwest and South that dangerously strong winds were blowing through the region
Aside from a few electrical flashes in Anguilla, Mississippi, it was pitch black when the tornado passed
A tornado about a mile wide appeared to cross the Mississippi River from Anguilla via Silver City, Belzoni, and Rolling Fork
Other storm chasers in the area captured the violent nature of the storms with lightning bolts and powerful bolts lighting up the ominous sky as a tornado swept through Anguilla, Mississippi.
In nearby Silver City, Mississippi, damage was said to be “everywhere” after the tiny village of 300 people suffered a direct hit.
More than 30 million people lay in the path of the storm, which had already caused the drowning of two people after a car with the drowned passengers still inside was swept away in Missouri on Friday.
Golfball-sized hailstones emanating from the supercell storms also saw torrential rains that led to flooding — all part of the severe weather system raging across the country.
The drowning happened just after midnight in a sparsely populated area of southwest Missouri.
Authorities said six young adults were in the vehicle, which was swept away as the car attempted to cross a bridge over a flooded stream in the town of Grovespring.
Four of the six made it out of the water. The body of Devon Holt, 20, of Grovespring, was found at 3:30 a.m. and the body of Alexander Roman-Ranelli, 19, of Springfield, was recovered about six hours later, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Thomas Junge said .
The driver told authorities the rain made it difficult to see that water from a creek had covered the bridge, Young said.
A red SUV is submerged in flood water on Old Ritchey Road in Granby, Missouri early Friday. An elderly woman was rescued from the car
A man stuck in a tree is rescued by fast water teams from the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District and the Verde Valley Fire District in Camp Verde, Arizona. Several water rescues were reported in central and northern Arizona during the week
Torrential rain caused backyard flooding in Bryant, Arkansas on Friday
Backyards appeared more like lakes after the heavy downpours
🚨🚨 TORNADO EMERGENCY intensifies.. — Massive tornado on ground for over 30 minutes! This is a very wide tornado that can do a lot of damage outside – possibly on the way to Yazoo City.
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) March 25, 2023
On Friday, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned of more severe weather.
“A severe weather outbreak is possible this afternoon and tonight in the lower Mississippi Valley and central South,” the NWS wrote.
As of midnight Friday, a tornado watch had been issued for eastern Arkansas, northeast Louisiana, central and northern Mississippi, and western Tennessee, including Little Rock and Memphis.
The NWS warned that “a few significant tornadoes” were likely.
The Storm Prediction Center predicts there will be some strong tornadoes, rated at least EF2 on an intensity scale of 0 to 5, that could stay grounded for long distances.
A series of severe storms will move across the South, particularly parts of the lower Mississippi Valley, during the evening and night hours
The areas where Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana meet appeared to be the center of dangerous storms on Friday night
Heavy thunderstorms in the south could trigger tornadoes on Friday night
The storm system is being fueled by a slump in the jet stream that swept through California on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in tornadoes there including one that struck downtown LA — the first in the area since 1953.
Meanwhile, in another southwestern Missouri county, a search was underway for a woman who went missing after flash flooding from a small river washed a car off the road.
The Logan Rogersville Fire Department said the victim’s dog was safely located, but there was no sign of the woman. Two other vehicle occupants were rescued. The crews planned to use boats and have searchers walk along the river bank.
Some parts of southern Missouri rained nearly 3 inches Thursday night and through Friday morning as severe weather battered other areas.
A suspected tornado made landfall in north Texas early Friday as a volatile storm system threatened to spawn tornadoes in several southern states.
A view from this weather satellite shows how broad the storm appears to be over the south
Parts of eastern Arkansas, eastern Louisiana, western and northern Mississippi and western Tennessee appear to be in the firing line of violent storms Friday night
Destructive straight-line winds and large hail are a risk as floodwater rain targets the Ohio Valley
Matt Elliott, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said severe weather is expected in several states.
“We’re talking about multiple tornadoes, including some that could be strong and intense,” Elliott said.
The Storm Prediction Center warned of the greatest threat from tornadoes Friday afternoon and evening in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Storms with damaging winds and hail were forecast from east Texas and southeast Oklahoma to parts of southeast Missouri and southern Illinois.
“Now is the time to check your weather radio batteries and make sure you have multiple ways of getting weather alerts but also have a plan so you can get yourself and when storms approach your area and alerts.” your family to a safe place,” Elliott said.
The sky looked particularly threatening on Friday evening over Dallas in the US state of Texas
Gray skies hung over the Mississippi late Friday night
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned of possible tornadoes hitting the state overnight and urged residents to prepare for severe weather, including damaging winds and hail.
The risk of personal vulnerability increases with nighttime severe weather because residents are less likely to be warned because they are sleeping and tornadoes are harder to spot, according to the National Weather Service.
In Texas, a suspected tornado struck the southwest corner of Wise County around 5 a.m., damaging homes and downing trees and power lines, said Cody Powell, the county’s emergency management coordinator. Powell said he had no reports of injuries.
The Weather Service has not confirmed a tornado, but damage to homes has also been reported in neighboring Parker County, weather forecaster Matt Stalley said. Investigators are likely to go to the area later Friday to make that determination.
The two areas are about 10 miles apart on the western edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and Stalley said the storm system is expected to move east of the region through the rest of Friday.