Mississippi severe weather: The latest information you need to know
Published 9:46 pm Friday, June 16, 2023
- One of many fallen trees is shown at this Laurel home. The tree fell during a severe thunderstorm with winds of 111 miles per hour as reported by the Jones County Emergency Operations Center.
As more Mississippi communities brace for more severe storms tonight, others are cleaning up from widespread damage. Thousands remain without power while at least one family is mourning the death of a 67-year-old man. The Jones County Emergency Operations Center reported wind gusts up to 111 miles per hour early Friday morning. Many other counties reported destructive wind and nearly-record hail.
Magnolia State Live will be posting tomorrow’s weather forecast later this evening, but anyone planning to travel more than a short distance Sunday for Father’s Day may want to consider changing plans to Saturday. We’ll still have a chance for severe storms Saturday, but models and forecasts are showing Sunday could be just as bad as today for some communities.
As of 9:30 p.m. Friday, there are nearly 92,000 customers without electricity across the state with the majority in the Jackson Metro and central Mississippi.
Anyone with power still out from this morning’s round of storms will need to dispose of perishable items in refrigerators. Several people with power restored after outages this morning will need to be extra careful with refrigerated items. Most food items in a freezer that hasn’t been opened are safe to eat for 24 to 48 hours. For a breakdown of food safety during and after power outages, click here.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency issued the following public information:
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is working with counties to assess damage from the severe weather on June 16, 2023. There are reports of homes damaged, trees down, roads blocked and power outages due to the storms. One death (Madison County) has been reported to MEMA. Statewide, counties have reported 69 homes have been damaged.
Initial damage assessments are underway. The following is PRELIMINARY and will change through the assessment process. These counties report some damage to homes ranging from affected to destroyed.
- Covington – 20 homes
- Claiborne – 3 homes
- Jones – 15 homes
- Simpson – 15 homes
- Hinds – 11 homes
- Madison – 1 fatality in Canton; Multiple homes with damages
- Warren – 2 homes; 1 church
- Yazoo – 3 homes
MEMA encourages residents who’ve sustained damage after a severe weather event to do the following:
- File an insurance claim.
- Take photos of the damage to the home.
- Report damage to county/MEMA via the self-report tool.
