Powerful tornadoes that ripped through Mississippi have killed at least 25 people, injured many more and obliterated dozens of buildings, leaving an especially devastating mark in one rural town where its mayor mourned: “My city is gone”.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from local and state agencies were being deployed to help victims worst affected by the freak weather. The agency later confirmed the death toll had risen to 26, including a man who was killed in neighbouring Alabama.
The National Weather Service confirmed that one tornado caused damage about 60 miles north-east of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept north east at 70 mph without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.
