The National Weather Service today confirmed tornadoes touched down Saturday afternoon in Oktibbeha and Clay counties as part of a violent line of thunderstorms.
Based on preliminary ground surveys, the National Weather Service believes the tornado that touched down outside of Tallulah, La., crossed into Mississippi and caused devastation throughout the state made it all the way to Oktibbeha County.
The twister caused deaths in Yazoo, Holmes and Choctaw counties before it reached western Oktibbeha County as an EF3, with winds between 136 and 165 miles per hour, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Fairly said. The tornado then “rapidly” weakened and dissipated in Oktibbeha County, Fairly said.
The same storm system produced two additional tornadoes in the area.
The first struck as an EF1 north of Starkville, where it flipped a mobile home off its foundation and into a nearby tree line near the corner of Highway 389 and Sun Creek Road. Tornadoes in the EF1 category pack winds of 86-110 mph.
Another tornado, this one an EF2, touched down in northeastern Clay County, Fairly said. A twister in the EF2 category has winds from 111-135 mph.
Fairly helped conduct surveys Monday across the state, where 10 people died as a result of Saturday”s storms. No one was injured in Oktibbeha, Clay or Lowndes counties.
“From what I saw yesterday, and I”m going to be doing some safety talks soon, one of the things I”m going to really stress is if you live in a trailer and you know bad weather is going to be there on a certain day, be somewhere else,” Fairly said. “Don”t stay in your trailer, especially if you have small children.”
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