Feb. 11, 2013
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Early Monday morning sunlight shows the destruction Sunday's tornado caused in Hattiesburg, Miss., adjacent to the University of Southern Mississippi, including the severe damage to Westminster Presbyterian Church, on Feb. 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (AP) - Residents shaken by a tornado that mangled homes in Mississippi woke up Monday to a day of removing trees, patching roofs and giving thanks for their survival. More than 60 in the southern state were injured.
Daylight also offered emergency management officials the chance to get a better handle on the damage that stretched across several counties. Gov. Phil Bryant planned to visit Hattiesburg, where a twister moved along one of the city's main streets and damaged buildings at the governor's alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi.
More than 60 people were treated for injuries, and 200 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed, Bryant said at a news conference Monday. However, no lives were lost and no one was unaccounted for. Bryant and other officials said that was in part because tornado sirens gave people as much as 30 minutes of warning that a tornado was approaching.
VIDEO ON SKYE: Stormchaser Tracks Massive Mississippi Tornado
Also, the University of Southern Mississippi was on Mardi Gras holiday, so there were fewer students on campus. Businesses were either closed or not very crowded because it was Sunday.
It was raining Monday, and people began trying to salvage what they could in one damaged neighborhood. Some people walked around fallen trees, power lines, smashed cars and other debris to carry belongings away.
The rain was supposed to continue through the day, and more severe weather was expected Tuesday. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Bryant in Jackson, Mississippi, said tornadoes aren't expected, but heavy rain is likely to continue.
Charlotte Walters, 61, and her daughter were moving buckets and bowls around inside their house trying to catch water pouring through holes in the roof. The women were at home when a relative called and said a tornado was headed their way.
"It sounded like Katrina," said Walters, who lives in a neighborhood also hit by the 2005 hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast.
Besides holes in the roof of her one-story wood frame house, a falling tree had damaged the side and another one collapsed on her carport, denting and breaking windows in three cars there.
"I'm blessed. At least I don't have one of those in my house," Charlotte said, pointing to a tree that had fallen onto a neighbor's house next door.
PHOTOS ON SKYE: Tornado Rips Through Hattiesburg, Miss.
![]()
Early Monday morning sunlight shows the destruction Sunday's tornado caused in Hattiesburg, Miss., adjacent to the University of Southern Mississippi, including the severe damage to Westminster Presbyterian Church, on Feb. 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (AP) - Residents shaken by a tornado that mangled homes in Mississippi woke up Monday to a day of removing trees, patching roofs and giving thanks for their survival. More than 60 in the southern state were injured.
Daylight also offered emergency management officials the chance to get a better handle on the damage that stretched across several counties. Gov. Phil Bryant planned to visit Hattiesburg, where a twister moved along one of the city's main streets and damaged buildings at the governor's alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi.
More than 60 people were treated for injuries, and 200 homes and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed, Bryant said at a news conference Monday. However, no lives were lost and no one was unaccounted for. Bryant and other officials said that was in part because tornado sirens gave people as much as 30 minutes of warning that a tornado was approaching.
VIDEO ON SKYE: Stormchaser Tracks Massive Mississippi Tornado
Also, the University of Southern Mississippi was on Mardi Gras holiday, so there were fewer students on campus. Businesses were either closed or not very crowded because it was Sunday.
It was raining Monday, and people began trying to salvage what they could in one damaged neighborhood. Some people walked around fallen trees, power lines, smashed cars and other debris to carry belongings away.
The rain was supposed to continue through the day, and more severe weather was expected Tuesday. National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Bryant in Jackson, Mississippi, said tornadoes aren't expected, but heavy rain is likely to continue.
Charlotte Walters, 61, and her daughter were moving buckets and bowls around inside their house trying to catch water pouring through holes in the roof. The women were at home when a relative called and said a tornado was headed their way.
"It sounded like Katrina," said Walters, who lives in a neighborhood also hit by the 2005 hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast.
Besides holes in the roof of her one-story wood frame house, a falling tree had damaged the side and another one collapsed on her carport, denting and breaking windows in three cars there.
"I'm blessed. At least I don't have one of those in my house," Charlotte said, pointing to a tree that had fallen onto a neighbor's house next door.
PHOTOS ON SKYE: Tornado Rips Through Hattiesburg, Miss.
