Mississippi under a state of emergency after severe storms

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The National Weather services confirms two tornadoes touched down in the Mid South during Saturday morning’s severe storms.

In a tweet, the agency says on EF-1 tornado touched down in Tate County, near Arkabutla, and moved into DeSoto county, just southwest of Hernando. A EF-2 tornado touched down east of Hernando and moved towards the Olive Branch area.

The National Weather Service also said damage in Tunica County was caused by straight-lined wind.

📋Preliminary Damage Survey Results from 1st team:
🌪️2 tornadoes
➡️One rated EF-1 tornado in Tate into DeSoto County, MS
➡️One EF-2 tornado in DeSoto County, MS
Straight-line wind damage was observed in Tunica County. More pictures and details to follow. #mswx

— NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) January 12, 2020

Preliminary findings – #Tate and #DeSoto Co., EF1 #tornado from near Arkabutla to SSW of Hernando. Max winds estimated 100 mph.

— NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) January 12, 2020

 

Preliminary findings: #DeSoto Co, EF2 #tornado from E of Hernando to S of Olive Branch. Max winds estimated 120 mph.

— NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) January 12, 2020

 

 

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Saturday afternoon while damages across the state were being assessed.

According to the Governor’s Facebook page, flooding continues to threaten parts of the state.

A tornado hit several homes in the 4000-5000 blocks of Highway 4 West in Marshall County, the Marshall County Fire Department confirmed to WREG.

Some injuries were reported, but the severity of those injuries is unknown.

The tornado occurred between Holly Springs and Senatobia.

Olive Branch Police said Cedar Creek Road is blocked by downed trees and power lines, and College Road between Bethel Road and Highway 305 is impassible.

WREG’s Jerrita Patterson spoke with two brothers who say the storms also left damage in Hernando.

“It sounded like a bomb, like that type of bang,” 14-year-old Josh Davis and his brother Daniel say it took the roof off of a neighbor’s home. “The house could have been on the ground, in bits and pieces.”

Just southeast of Clarkdale, the storms knocked over 44 empty rail cars on the Mississippi Delta Railroad. The railroad released a statement saying no one was hurt and that a tree did fall on a locomotive.

Entergy is reporting outages across northern Mississippi and Arkansas. In an area where some of the strongest storms hit, almost 6,000 customers were without power in DeSoto County.

In Wynne, Arkansas, the storms tore off the roof of the animal shelter. The West Memphis Animal Shelter is working with the Wynne Animal Shelter to get the animals out of the damaged building.

Someone’s fur-baby was found hiding under a tree along Gaines Road! The Davis brothers are keeping him warm & comforted until he is reunited with his family! @3onyourside pic.twitter.com/fKenFJj2rr

— Jerrita Patterson (@JerritaP_OnTv) January 11, 2020

Collierville officials are warning drivers to be careful in the areas of Winchester and Houston Levee as well as Bailey Station and Houston Levee due to out traffic signals. Crews are putting up stop signs at both intersections to remind people to treat the intersections as four-way stop.

After the majority of the storms passed through Shelby County, more than 25,000 customers were left without power in the county.

A large tree fell onto power lines in Midtown, blocking a portion of McLean and affecting power in the area.

MLGW had crews ready and waiting Saturday morning and will be working on repairs through the day.

WREG will provide updates as we learn more.

Large tree falls on top of an apartment building in the 300 block of East Parkway N. No injuries . Knocked out power in the neighborhood pic.twitter.com/5lpaYDWdGP

— melissa moon (@MMoon_WREG3) January 11, 2020