JACKSON — A severe storm system swept across Mississippi on Saturday, dumping more than an inch of rain and blowing down trees and power lines. Two deaths were blamed on the weather.
Several other people were injured across the state, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported.
In Coahoma County, Coroner Scotty Meredith said John Sanders died when his mobile home in Rena Lara was blown over. Sanders was sleeping in a bedroom in the mobile home in the rural Mississippi Delta community when the storm hit.
When the mobile home blew over, it hit a tree, and Sanders ended up pinned between the tree and part of the home.
Three other adults and two children were in the living room. Meredith said the storm “threw them out” and one of the adults was treated in an emergency room for cuts and scratches.
In Jasper County, a man died after his car hit a tree that had fallen across a county road near Heidelberg, Coroner Randy Graham said. A woman who was in the car was critically injured and taken to a hospital. Their names were not immediately released.
At the storm’s height, more than 22,000 people lost power in northern Mississippi.
That number was beginning to fall late Saturday night as electricity was restored.
David Cox, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said surveyors would have to check to see whether any of the damage was caused by tornadoes.
“It’s probably too soon to tell,” Cox said. “There are some rotations along this line, but there are also some straight-line winds.”
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