Broadway

Complete News World

Tornado kills at least 26 in US – more storms expected

Tornado kills at least 26 in US – more storms expected

At least one tornado made its way through Mississippi on Friday evening (local time), and several other storms hit the region. The tornado was particularly devastating in Silver City and Rolling Fork. Roofs were blown off houses, trees were uprooted and power lines damaged. Parts of the city were almost razed to the ground. US President Joe Biden pledged that “we will do everything we can to help” in light of the “heartbreaking” images coming out of Mississippi.

The tornado made landfall in Rolling Fork around 8 p.m. Friday, Lance Perilloux of the National Weather Service told NPR. He then left the path of destruction for a distance of more than 270 kilometers in a good hour. “This is one of the rare tornadoes we’ve seen in Mississippi history in terms of longevity and strength over a period of time,” Perilloux said. At least one other, weaker cyclone may have struck the state, but that has yet to be confirmed.

On Sunday, the weather service warned of severe thunderstorms with hail the size of chicken eggs. Other cyclones and wind gusts of more than 110 kilometers per hour are possible. Meteorologists expect the storms to weaken only in the evening, followed by isolated showers.

Mississippi is considered one of the poorest states in the United States, which is why such disasters hit the people there especially hard. Reconstruction can drag on for years. About 2,000 people lived in Rolling Fork, an almost completely destroyed small town – many of them in converted caravans. A large portion of the population lives below the country’s poverty line.

“My city is gone. But we will be resilient and we will come back,” Mayor Eldridge Walker said on US television on Saturday. He and his wife took shelter in the bathtub at their home when the storm warning came. Now his city presents a picture of “total destruction.”