MS homes destroyed by possible tornado, 3 dead in storm aftermath: 'It was out of nowhere'

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Storms that came through Mississippi on Tuesday brought damaging winds and suspected tornadoes leaving three dead and residents of one county picking up the pieces only two weeks after another tornado struck causing injuries and destroying homes.
"We've got at least three or four homes completely destroyed, one with major damage, two with minor damage and a few that were affected," said Angela Atchison, director of Wayne County Emergency Management Agency. "We had four injuries.
"All were transported to the hospital. One, possibly two, were transported to a higher-care facility."
Atchison said the suspected tornado struck about 6:40 p.m.
"All reports have been that as soon as notification was given, it was on top of them," Atchison said. "It was just instant. It was out of nowhere. We normally have more warning."
Atchison said this is the second time the county has suffered damage from severe weather in recent weeks. In mid-February a powerful tornado struck the county and left a 26-mile track.
"Two weeks age we had an EF3 tornado, possibly and EF4 tornado in one location," Atchison said. "We had two injuries at that point with one trapped due to inaccessibility due to debris and downed power lines.
"We had approximately 50 homes damaged with 20-plus being destroyed or major (damage). These people have not had a chance to recover and catch their breath and here we are again."
The storm system also claimed the lives of two Madison County men and injured two others.
According to Madison County deputy coroner Joel Shows, Thomas Lacey, Jr., 71, of Madison was killed Tuesday afternoon when he came into contact with a power line that had been knocked down by a falling tree limb. Shows said a second person was injured in the incident.
A second fatality came when Paul Hardin, 63, of Canton was traveling on the Natchez Trace north of MS 43 and his vehicle was struck by a falling tree. Shows said a passenger in the vehicle was also injured.
According to Mississippi Emergency Management Agency interim external affairs director Eric Bullard, a third fatality occurred in Clarke County. Bullard said information his agency received indicated a woman was in her yard when a tree branch fell and killed her.
Although the storm front had passed, thousands of Mississippians remained without electricity on Wednesday. As of 10:40 a.m., 7,185 customers tracked by Power Outage US were without power.
Counties most heavily affected included:
Hinds County: 1,958
Madison County: 796
Neshoba County: 779
Alcorn County: 337
Clarke County: 280
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Storms leave 3 dead, homes destroyed by suspected tornado in MS