More than two dozen dead in wake of Mississippi tornado

An EF4 tornado left a 170 mile path of destruction leading from North-Central Mississippi to the Northeastern corner of the state. As the tornado bore down on the area, local meteorologist Matt Laubhan paused a moment on-air to pray for people in the path of the tornado.

Photo courtesy CNN

“Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen,” Laubhan said during his severe weather broadbast when he saw a debris field near downtown Armory, Mississippi.

The storm crossed into Alabama after it flattening entire neighborhoods.

“This is heartbreaking to come home and see a town that I grew up in all my life to be gone like this,” Laura McKnight said after she found her home destroyed.

The Sharkey County Coroner confirmed 13 people died in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

“It was right on top of us, and I was like, ‘man.’ I just knew our house was gone,”said Dontavis Brown. Brown said he shielded his family from debris while his house crumbled around him.

The storm claimed at least 25 lives in Mississippi and one in Alabama.

“I just hit the ground, I just laid on top of everybody that was in the house with me. I was

Photo courtesy CNN

just thinking about they’re safety,” Brown said.

“What we’ve seen over the last 36 hours in Mississippi, on the one hand, has been heartbreaking to see the loss and devastation of these communities. But on the other hand, it’s been inspiring and gives me great reason for optimism and quite frankly, makes me proud to be a Mississippian,” said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves.

Relief efforts started as more severe weather threatens the region in the following weeks.