JASPER COUNTY, Miss. — At least one person died and nearly two dozen others were injured Sunday after a tornado touched down in Jasper County, downing trees and destroying buildings in central Mississippi.
It was not immediately clear how the person died or the extent of the injuries. Officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said they were working Monday morning to assess damage from severe weather that swept the state on Sunday.
Officials with the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado was moving northeast of Bay Springs around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Video posted on social media showed the devastation left by the tornado.
In a statement Monday, Gov. Tate Reeves said that in addition to the Jasper County tornado, a tornado hit Rankin County overnight.
“Emergency crews are doing additional (search and rescue) missions and damage assessments in both areas now – with drones in those areas where it is impossible to get by vehicle due to downed power lines,” he said.
“Multiple damaged homes and road closings in both communities. Be careful!”
Nearly 45,000 people were without power in the immediate aftermath of the storm, according to outage tracking site poweroutages.us.