HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — Two people are dead including a little boy and there’s catastrophic damage after the tornado that ripped through Holly Springs.
The 7-year-old was found dead along Highway 7, and several others are injured after homes were demolished.
Holly Springs looks nothing short of a war zone. There are vehicles flipped everywhere, and homes are destroyed as well.
There’s nothing left of Marvin and Bernita Sims’ home, but they’re alive. Alive, in part they said, because they were watching WREG.
“We were just watching Channel 3 news matter of fact!” Marvin Sims said. “They were just broadcasting it and saying it was about 10 minutes away from Holly Springs.”
So Marvin Sims sprung into action immediately.
“I told my wife, ‘Run, and get in the shower, in the tub.’ So she ran and got in the tub and I jumped down and got on top of her. By that time we just heard everything — boom ba-boom ba-boom!”
“I looked up and the roof was blowing off the house,” he continued. “I just told her, ‘Hold on! Hold on!’ And I held on to her as tight as I could.”
Homes were leveled and the Holly Springs Raceway is gone.
“It’s devastating,” said David Harbin, who worked at Holly Springs Raceway. “It kind of crushes you here at Christmas.”
It’s a scene of downed power lines, overturned vehicles and uprooted trees. In a town that looks like it’s been hit by a bomb, people said they’re just thankful to be alive.
“I’m going to sit in my nice house tonight and think about that,” Harbin said. “There are people aren’t going to go home. They’re not going to have a house to go to.”
And while the Sims are now suddenly homeless this holiday, they said all they really need is all they have left — each other.
“This is 31 years of marriage right here!”
WREG has learned the mayor of Olive Branch, Mississippi has reached out to Holly Springs.
He said the city will be sending 18 officers to the area to help wherever needed.
