Mississippi Delta hit by tornados.

[Jimmy W]

It seems a tornado formed near Lake Providence, Louisiana and traveled through Rolling Fork to Silver City, Mississippi in Sharkey and Humphreys counties this evening. Rolling Fork is about 35 miles south of me. Another storm passed just north of me.

[Jimmy W]

The tornado, which spun up near Rolling Fork around 8 p.m., was at least a mile wide and traveled for more than 90 miles. Several towns along the track, including Anguilla and Silver Creek, also saw significant damage.

https://www.wapt.com/article/search-...ctims/43415196

Silver Creek isn't near there, that probably should have been Silver City.

[LeeG]

that was a storm all right

[Jimmy W]

MASSIVE TORNADO STRIKES MISSISSIPPI-Rolling Fork, MS

[WI-Tom]

Scary stuff. And no one quite seems to know what causes them, or how they will be affected by climate change.

While there have been no long-term trends in thefrequency of tornadoes, there have been changes in tornado patterns in recent years. Research has shown that there are fewer days with at least one tornado but more days with over thirty, even as the total number of tornadoes per year has remained relatively stable. In other words, tornado events are becoming more clustered.There is also evidence to suggest that tornado patterns have shifted geographically. The number of tornadoes in the states that make up Tornado Alley are falling, while tornado events have been on the rise in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
There is speculation that some of these changes are linked to climate change and its effect on the jet stream. Tornado outbreaks have also coincided with rising ocean temperatures. But no one can say for certain that climate change is a contributing factor in these events. It is very hard to tease out which changes are down to climate change and which changes might be caused by interaction with natural climate fluctuations such as El Niño.

Source

Tom

[LeeG]

crap. I was sitting under the porch warching the weather maps as it came in. It felt weird and ominous.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weath...ornado-damage/

Devastating tornadoes swept through parts of Mississippi overnight, killing at least 23 people, injuring dozens more and wreaking severe damage after wind gusts of up to 80 mph and hail the size of golf balls battered the state.

[Jimmy W]

I liked the design of this Episcopal church in Rolling Fork. It looks like this part of it is now a pile of rubble. The toppled water tower in thumbnail of video was nearby on next block.

rolling fork episcopal church.jpg

[Jimmy W]

Same church above today in left front.

rolling fork episcopal church after tornado.jpg

[Osborne Russell]

Muddy Waters

[Jimmy W]

This is probably gone now. Was beside courthouse that was hit hard.

Rolling Fork Muddy Waters marker and cabin.jpg

rolling fork muddy waters guitar.jpg

[Jimmy W]

rolling fork holt collier and teddy roosevelt.jpg

This was also across from courthouse and every year Rolling Fork has a "Great Delta Bear Affair festival" commemorating Teddy Roosevelt's bear hunt that resulted in the creation of the teddy bear.

[Jimmy W]

The other person with Roosevelt above was Holt Collier. His grave has recently gotten a fence, bricks, and a plaque.

from this:

Holt Collier grave crop.jpg

To this:

Holt Collier grave upgrade.jpg

[Jimmy W]

Still from video in post 7. Bass Tracker boat looks unharmed left on remains of home.I wonder if it has a bow line connected to that trailer.

rolling fork boat on remains of house.jpg

[Jimmy W]

From Google maps of that area. Might be same boat in center of picture.

rolling fork indian bayou boat..jpg

[bluedog225]

Terrible.

[birlinn]

Looking at those pics, I am surprised how many survived.
Hell on Earth.

[WX]

How do you build for something like that? Looks like low lying ground, so you can't go underground.

[The Ranger]

Lots of newer homes in our neighborhood are patio homes or slab on grade. They have a block tornado/utiity room inside the house.

[Jimmy W]

Sharkey county is 70% black, Rolling Fork is 74% black and 22.5% white,

In 2020, the median income for a household in the city was $23,081, and the median income for a family was $24,911. Males had a median income of $25,729 versus $17,065 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,481. About 30.6% of families and 37.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.0% of those under age 18 and 24.6% of those age 65 or over.

This time of the year, the water table is near ground level.

[Jimmy W]

Radar looks like it might be raining there again now and there are severe thunderstorm warnings just south and southwest of Rolling Fork that might reach there this afternoon.

[David G]

Looks like a slit-ton of damage. So sorry to see this sort of devestation to people's homes and towns.

Makes me very glad we don't live in tornado/hurricane territory.

Though the geologists tell us we're sitting on a time-bomb earthquake. Commonly called The Big One... it has the potential to be one of the most devastating natural events in history. The 'Cascadian Subduction Zone', when it releases, could kill 10-15,000 and displace millions. Being geological time... they can't say whether it'll happen in a month... or in a thousand years. --- https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...really-big-one

Meanwhile, I hope FEMA does its job well down there and eases the aftermath and the suffering as much as can possibly be done. Maybe tRump will put in an appearance to toss out some paper towels?

I sent a small donation to Salvation Army. There are other groups also assembling aid --

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/us/ho...ado/index.html

[Jimmy W]

I doubt tRump will show there. These are the people that elected Bennie Thompson.

[John Smith]

My heart goes out to all those impacted.

[Jimmy W]

My sister sent a photo from Facebook. Someone found this guitar, but neck was broken off and it had broken off from base.

[Jimmy W]

A wedding photo of a couple from Rolling Fork was found in the yard of a house in Saltillo, Mississippi, 207 miles away. The people that found it were able to locate the owners and it is being returned to them.

[Jimmy W]

I rode through Rolling Fork today. I only went down a few streets and didn't stay long to keep from disturbing all the people working. The chainsaw carvings of Holt and Teddy survived with some damage. Teddy lost his hand and rifle, but they are laying in front of him so can be reattached.

Rolling Fork Holt Collier and Teddy Roosevelt carvings after tornado 800.jpg

[bamamick]

I carried a load of clothing, soaps, that sort of stuff, up to Tuscaloosa after the terrible tornadoes of 2011, and even though I live right in the middle of a pretty active hurricane area I have never seen anything like what those storms did there. I travel through the Mississippi River delta up through Yazoo City through Belzoni and up to Greenville every time I drive to Colorado, and I would venture to say that better than 90% of those small communities and towns, if they get hit with something like this, will never be rebuilt. They will just disappear forever.

As my brother-in-law said the other day, the truly amazing thing is that anyone lives through it, not that 25 people lost their lives. My prayers go out to everyone affected by these things. They are truly frightening.

Mickey Lake

[Jimmy W]

Per the Clarion Ledger:

"The total fatality number has been revised to 21 storm-related fatalities. There were 3 fatalities in Carroll County, 2 fatalities in Monroe County, 3 fatalities in Humphreys County, and 13 fatalities in Sharkey County.

According to preliminary assessments, these counties have reported some damage to homes ranging from affected to destroyed. Carroll- 24 homes, Humphreys- 55 homes, Monroe- 1,476 homes, Montgomery- 49 homes, Grenada- 1 home, Prentiss- 1 home, Panola- 33 homes, Sharkey- 255 homes."

I find it amazing that only 13 died in Sharkey county. As sparsely populated as that area is, I'm also amazed that it hit Rolling Fork and Silver City at all. If it had tracked a mile north or south, it would have gone over mostly empty fields. As it was, it hit the dead center of town.

A lot of work is being done now. Many power poles have already been replaced and rewired. There is a lot of bottled water available for anyone that needs it and Walmart and others have portable kitchens set up to give out food. I saw a Billy Graham Ministries truck there among many others.

P1011100.jpg

[icyb]

Stay safe Jimmy more coming Friday and next Tuesday the same area.

[Jimmy W]

Rolling Fork one month later.

[LeeG]

It’s been a few weeks since a tornado crossed the lower part of our ridge. Tree clearing is still going on. There was a row of tall 2’ diameter pines that are neatly cutoff and facing the road. For some reason dead wires are still laying on the road. Kinda disturbing to drive through an area that was shaded with big trees and now it’s totally exposed to the sky. FEMA has been a godsend to friends who live off grid with a modest solar panel system that got flung and shredded. They were huddled in their closet when it passed over. She’s 3 mo pregnant and they have a 18 mo boy.

[skuthorp]

I somehow felt guilty of voyerism watching that footage. The town reminds me of a mining that is slowly being abandoned. And so few people.