Message #50006

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/deadly-tornado-outbreak/second-round-twisters-creates-havoc-mississippi-n91146
Second Round of Twisters Creates Havoc in Mississippi

A major tornado caused serious damage and several injuries in the Tupelo area Monday afternoon, authorities said, as millions of people in the Deep South braced for the second punch of a storm system that killed 16 people in the region over the weekend.

"We're very fortunate that we have no reports of deaths in our city," Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton told The Weather Channel shortly after the twister — one of at least five confirmed to have hit the state Monday — touched ground in the city and tracked northward.

A tornado ripped through Tupelo, Miss., on Monday afternoon.

Shelton said later that there was "significant property damage," along with unconfirmed reports of some non-life-threatening injuries. The city was under a 9 p.m. (10 p.m. ET) curfew as emergency crews went door to door to assess damage and potential injuries.

"Please say a prayer for all those affected and our law enforcement officials," Shelton said.

The state Emergency Management Agency said it couldn't immediately confirm reports of "mass casualties," saying travel conditions and visibility remained too poor for its crews to make any assessments.

NBC station WTVA of Tupelo reported that the worst major damage was near Barnes Crossing Mall a couple of miles north of downtown. Managers said the mall itself wasn't hit, but Tupelo police told NBC News at least six other area businesses were rendered "structurally unsound."

Forecasters for The Weather Channel said debris fields on radar and the large wedge shape of the storm indicated that the damage could be serious around Tupelo, home to about 35,000 people.

WTVA was live on the air and had to be evacuated when the tornado — described by the National Weather Service as "large and violent" — hit the ground, leaving viewers to watch the news team scramble off their screens.

A tornado near the town of Louisville extensively damaged Winston County Community Hospital and injured an undetermined number of people, said Temika Triplett, a spokeswoman for the Winston County Emergency Management Agency.

There were no immediate reports of deaths at the hospital, Triplett told NBC News.

Another tornado touched down at the intersection of state Highways 78 and 45, closing the intersection, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said, and yet another was confirmed near Yazoo Cit, — where a twister estimated at 170 mph killed 10 people four years ago. There were no early estimates of damage there.

Tornado warnings dotted central Mississippi late Monday afternoon and extended into northeast Alabama, the National Weather Service said, warning of the potential for quarter-size hail and serious tornado and wind damage. School districts in Alabama let their students out early, and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency.

A broader swath of the middle of the country was at risk for some form of severe weather, as far north as Iowa, as far south as New Orleans and as far east as Charlotte, N.C. A jetliner flying the Memphis Grizzlies from Tennessee to Oklahoma City for an NBA playoff game was diverted to Tulsa because of the dangerous weather, the team said.

The storm system, which spawned tornadoes on Sunday that killed at least 16 people in Arkansas, Iowa and Oklahoma, is expected to be a three-day event. The risk of severe storms for Wednesday extends to Virginia and the Carolina coast.