Tornadoes Cause Damage in Mississippi; Tupelo Hit at Night

YAZOO CITY, Miss. (AP) — Multiple tornadoes were reported across Mississippi on Sunday, destroying homes and uprooting trees before the storm system moved into Atlanta, prompting residents Monday to seek shelter in Georgia’s largest city. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Just south of Yazoo City, Mississippi, Vickie Savell looked at the remains of her brand new mobile home, where she and her husband had just moved in eight days ago. It was her first new home in 40 years, and it had been lifted off its foundation, moved about 25 feet (7.6 meters) and was completely destroyed.

“Oh my God, my first new house in 40 years and it’s gone,” she said Monday, amid tree tops strewn about the neighborhood and the roar of chainsaws as people worked to clear roads.

A line of severe storms rolled through the state Sunday afternoon and into the nighttime hours. Late Sunday, a “tornado emergency” was declared for Tupelo and surrounding areas. Meteorologists urged residents to take cover.

“Damage has been reported in the City of Tupelo,” the mayor’s office said in a Facebook post just before 11 p.m. “Emergency crews are currently assessing the degree of damage. Please do not get out and drive.”

Photos retweeted by the National Weather Service in Memphis showed several downed trees and power lines. Tupelo Middle School sustained some damage, as well as houses and businesses.

There were multiple reports of damage to homes on Elvis Presley Drive, just down the street from the home where the famed singer was born. Presley was born in a two-room house in the Tupelo neighborhood but there was no indications that the historic home sustained damage. It’s now a museum.

But just down the street on Elvis Presley Drive, a tornado tore the roof off the home of Terrille and Chaquilla Pulliam, they told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. About 10 family members took shelter inside the house, and “we got everybody inside in time,” Terrille Pulliam said.

Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan said Calhoun City also “was hit hard tonight.”

“Light poles have been snapped off. Trees in a few homes. Trees on vehicles. Damage to several businesses. Fortunately we have had no reports at this time of injuries,” Pollan posted on Facebook, asking people to stay off the roads. “Emergency personnel are working feverishly to open the roads as quickly as possible.”

News outlets also reported tornados near Yazoo City, Byram and Tchula earlier in the day. The National Weather Service in Jackson shared several images of funnel clouds across different parts of the state.

As the system moved east, a tornado watch Monday covered large parts of Alabama and Georgia. A tornado warning prompted residents of Atlanta to seek shelter late Monday morning.

Atlanta police late Monday morning were responding to a call of a tree down on a house on the city’s west side, Atlanta police spokesman Anthony Grant said. There were no immediate reports of injuries there, he said.

More storms are in store for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia on Tuesday, forecasters said. Tuesday’s storms could bring wind gusts of up to 70 mph (113 kph) and hail to the size of golf balls, said the National Weather Service in Jackson, noting that “tornadoes are likely Tuesday into Tuesday evening” in parts of Mississippi.

–Associated Press writer Jeff Martin in Marietta, Georgia, contributed to this report.

About the photo: Vickie Savell looks through her belongings amid the remains of her new mobile home early Monday, May 3, 2021, in Yazoo County, Miss. Multiple tornadoes were reported across Mississippi on Sunday, causing some damage but no immediate word of injuries. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)