(Washington) At least 23 people were killed during the passage of a tornado and thunderstorms in Mississippi, said Saturday the governor of this state in the south of the United States.
“We know that much more [de personnes] are injured. Search and rescue teams are still active,” Governor Tate Reeves also tweeted.
The Mississippi State Emergency Services (MSEMA) further noted on Twitter, “Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change” upwards.
“The state has deployed relief assets in Sharkey and Humphreys counties,” about 110 miles north of capital Jackson, MSEMA’s Malary White told ABC.
“We have activated the medical support system — increasing the number of ambulances and other emergency devices to [venir en aide] to those affected,” Tate Reeves tweeted.
Television footage showed flattened houses and lots of debris strewn across roads as emergency services tried to reach people in need of help.
“My town no longer exists,” the mayor of Rolling Fork, a town of some 2,000 people in west-central Mississippi, which was particularly affected by the tornado, told CNN.
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According to ABC, at least 13 people died in Sharkey County, along with three in neighboring Carroll County and two others in Monroe County.
Separately, a traffic cop in Silver City, Humphreys County reported one person dead to ABC.
PHOTO FROM TWITTER ACCOUNT @MHPTROOPD
Emergency crews have been deployed to Highway 49 in Silver City.
“In terms of the extent of the damage, we won’t have that until daybreak,” Malary White said.
“Our priority at this stage, particularly for the emergency services, is [d’assurer] the safety of lives and locating people to verify that they are safe,” she explained on local CBS News affiliate WJTV.
Tornado warnings had been issued Friday in several counties across that state, but as of 2:48 a.m. (3:48 a.m. EST) Saturday, Jackson’s National Weather Service (NWS) branch said “tornado watch was lifted throughout the area concerned”.
“New showers and other thunderstorms are expected in our area”, he had tweeted, stressing that “they should not be strong according to the forecast”.