An EF4 tornado tore through the western Mississippi town of Rolling Fork on Friday night, causing total destruction as it ripped through the small, tight-knit community. The outbreak of storms left at least 26 dead across the Southeast, and communities face a lengthy road to recovery.
The images from the ground and drone footage taken in the tornado’s aftermath have revealed startling damage as the twister laid waste to homes and businesses. Neighborhoods were flattened. A truck was tossed on top of a building like a toy. Large pieces of wood impaled a vehicle. But also pictured were resilient communities coming together and beginning to pick up the pieces.
Dramatic satellite imagery released on Sunday by Maxar shows a different perspective of the tornado’s wrath. From a bird’s-eye view, the extensive damage to buildings in Rolling Fork is hard to miss, and the EF4’s nearly 60-mile path of obliteration can be seen clearly.
The jaw-dropping photos illustrate the twister’s violent path. Beginning in northern Issaquena County and ending to the northeast in northern Holmes County, the path was approximately 59 miles long, according to the preliminary storm survey from the National Weather Service (NWS). The maximum path width of the storm was three-quarters of a mile, and the tornado lasted for approximately 70 minutes.
The tornado was given a preliminary rating of an EF4, with wind speeds ranging from 166 to 200 mph. Employees with the local NWS will continue to process and receive additional information before releasing a final storm survey. Sometimes storm surveys can take weeks to months to complete due to the amount of damage that needs to be assessed.
Baeley Williams, one of the emergency responders in Rolling Fork, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell that the town was “unrecognizable” when she arrived.
“There are houses completely demolished. There are businesses demolished,” said Williams. “Most of the town is unrecognizable right now. They can take all the help they can get.”
In a Sunday press release, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials noted that search and rescue operations were ongoing. The agency coordinated multiple resources to help those impacted, such as providing bottled water, tarps, portable restrooms and fuel for critical infrastructure generators. As of Sunday, at least three shelters were open for storm survivors.
“The devastation here in Rolling Fork is heartbreaking,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “The character and generosity of Mississippians is on full display with the countless volunteers and donations being offered.”
The Cajun Navy Ground Force, a disaster relief non-profit established in 2016, was one of the many groups on the ground providing help to those affected by Friday’s storm.
“I’ve been to 15 disasters, and as far as tornadoes go, this is one of the worst I’ve seen,” Clint Roe, a Cajun Navy Ground Force volunteer, told Wadell. “A lot of these people lost their cars and aren’t able to get their supplies and food, so our job today is to get as much of that out to the community as we can.”
Reeves declared a state of emergency in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties due to the extensive damage Friday’s storms caused. The White House approved Reeves’ request for federal assistance for those impacted counties Sunday morning.
“The images from across Mississippi are heartbreaking,” Biden said in a statement released on Saturday. “While we are still assessing the full extent of the damage, we know that many of our fellow Americans are not only grieving for family and friends, they’ve lost homes and businesses.”
Produced in association with AccuWeather
