One killed, dozens injured in Mississippi due to severe storms
JASPER COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) - One person was killed and nearly two dozen people were injured after severe storms moved through Mississippi.
According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the death and injuries were reported in Jasper County from the June 18-19 storms.
The small, rural town of Louin bore the brunt of the damage. Drone footage and photos showed wide expanses of debris-covered terrain, decimated homes and mangled trees. At least one person was lifted from the wreckage in a stretcher.
Standing in front of his damaged home on Monday, Lester Campbell told The Associated Press that his cousin, 67-year-old George Jean Hayes, is the person who died. Reached by phone Monday, Jones County Coroner Don Sumrall said Hayes was pronounced dead at 2:18 a.m. from “multisystem trauma.”
Campbell fell asleep in his recliner Sunday evening. He was awakened around midnight after the lights went out. After he walked to the kitchen to grab something from the refrigerator, the tornado struck.
“It happened so fast,” Campbell said. “It was like a train sound, a ‘roar, roar, roar.’”
He dropped to the floor and crawled to his bedroom closet, where his wife had already taken shelter. By the time he reached the closet, the tornado had passed.
Campbell said he heard calls for help across the street, where Hayes lived in a trailer home. He emerged from his home to find emergency workers carrying his cousin, with a bloodied forehead and leg, into an ambulance. She was conscious and talking when he saw her but died before reaching the hospital, he said.
Most of the people injured in Jasper County, including Hayes, were transported to the South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel between 2 and 3 a.m., said Becky Collins, a spokeswoman for the facility. About 20 people had bruises and cuts. Most were in stable condition Monday morning.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday’s tornadoes also struck Rankin County, which borders the capital city of Jackson. Emergency crews were doing search and rescue missions and damage assessments, deploying drones in some areas because they were impossible to reach by vehicle due to downed power lines.
As of Monday morning, more than 49,000 power outages have been reported in Central Mississippi.
MEMA encourages residents with any damage to do the following:
- File an insurance claim.
- Take photos of the damage.
- Report damage to county/MEMA via the self-report tool.
The Jasper County Community Center (124 Edmund King Drive, Bay Springs, MS) is open to assist affected residents. Supplies to help those affected by the storms can be dropped off at the Jasper County Sheriff's Department. The following items will be accepted:
- Water
- Personal hygiene items
- Snacks (individually wrapped)
- Garbage bags
- Plastic storage tubs
The Associated Press contributed to this report.