At least 23 deaths have been reported in northeast Mississippi as deadly tornadoes struck Friday night. Amory and Rolling Fork were among the towns that were hit the hardest and have seen the most destruction.
Meteorologist Matt Laubhan of WTVA-TV was tracking the storm as it approached Amory, Mississippi, and was visibly shaken by the images on the radar. “Oh, man,” he groaned. “North side of Amory, this is coming in. Oh, man…” He then prayed for the people of Amory: “Dear Jesus, please help them … amen.”
🚨#WATCH: As a meteorologist Live on air from WTVA overwhelmed as a major tornado hits Amory, Mississippi
📌#Amory | #Mississippi
⁰Heartbreaking video shows meteorologist Live on tv on WTVA overwhelmed as a major tornado hits the town of Amory after pic.twitter.com/ucaLXxSG8T…— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 25, 2023
The tornadoes that tore through the state were incredibly destructive. According to the Monroe Journal, Amory was hit hard, but thankfully, as of Saturday morning, there were no reports of deaths. Amory Mayor Corey Glenn said that the damage was “catastrophic” and that the town had a “fair amount of time” to prepare for the storm, likely contributing to the lack of casualties.
“Obviously, we got hit real hard. We did have an advance warning there. We’d had a little bit of heads up knowing that we were about to get hit. I don’t know exactly the lead time that we had, but we did have a fair amount of time to understand and prepare for it,” he said.
“It appears from the damage that I’ve been able to assess at this point it was a large tornado — and it has destroyed the city of Rolling Fork,” Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker said.
According to NBC, the town of Rolling Fork was not as lucky—at least 13 people have been reported dead in the town. Sharkey County Coroner Angelia Eason told the network that the damage in the town was “tremendous” and “awful.”
“The damage is tremendous. It’s awful,” Eason told the network.
First Light of Rolling Fork Mississippi after a Violent #Tornado last night. #mswx @SevereStudios @MyRadarWX pic.twitter.com/NG0YcI3TQn
— Jordan Hall (@JordanHallWX) March 25, 2023
