A tornado ripped through parts of Mississippi on Friday, causing significant damage to at least one community and trapping people in buildings, authorities said.
No deaths had been immediately reported. There was damage in Rolling Fork, population 1,800, and Silver City, a community of about 220, authorities said.
«It appears from the damage that I have been able to assess at this time, it was a large tornado, and it destroyed the town of Rolling Fork,» Mayor Eldridge Walker said. he told Jackson’s NBC affiliate WLBT by phone
The National Weather Service warned of a confirmed tornado on land heading toward Rolling Fork around 8:05 p.m.
A «tornado emergency,» a term used when there is a serious threat to life and a tornado has been confirmed by reliable sources, has been issued for this and other areas.
The weather service later said there was tornado damage in Rolling Fork, 60 miles northwest of Jackson, and in Silver City, northeast of Rolling Fork.
In the Silver City area, all Humphreys County Sheriff’s deputies were responding and jail staff were tasked with assisting dispatch and calling for assistance.
“We desperately need assistance with search and rescue,” Randy Taylor, a corrections officer with the sheriff’s office, told WLBT. «People are trapped.»
The state was sending search and rescue resources and other help to the area, said Malary White, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also been alerted and is monitoring the situation, he said.
«Many in MS Delta need your prayers and God’s protection tonight,» Governor Tate Reeves said. tweeted.
He said the state has activated medical support and is sending ambulances to where they are needed.
A tornado emergency is a term used when there is a serious threat to life, catastrophic damage, and when a tornado has been confirmed by reliable sources, according to the weather service. It came into use in 1999 when a tornado was headed towards Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The tornado in Mississippi occurred in very buoyant air and strong low- and upper-level shear was forecast to increase the risk of severe thunderstorms in the area, according to the weather service.
Most of Mississippi and parts of northern Alabama and central Tennessee were under a tornado watch Friday night.
Early Friday in Texas, two EF1 tornadoes with 100 mph winds struck Parker County, west of Fort Worth, around 5 a.m. said the weather service. Five people were injured NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.