A tornado watch was issued for the Pine Belt around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, and storm shelters began opening as the severe-weather threat moved across south Mississippi. By evening, tornado warnings were active in multiple counties as reports came in of downed trees, blocked roads, damaged barns and widespread power outages.
NWS Jackson issued a tornado warning for Jefferson Davis County until 9 p.m. after a tornado was reported on the ground, and Terri Bell said trees were down on Browns Ridge Road going into Purvis and another tree had fallen in Dubose. Bell said Elks Road and Patrick Road were blocked, and trees were also down in Dixie, where a couple barns suffered damage. PowerOutage.us reported 1,043 customers without power in the Jefferson Davis County area.
The warnings kept spreading as the storm system moved east and south. NWS Mobile extended the tornado warning for Perry County and issued a warning for Greene County until 8:30 p.m., while later warnings were posted for Perry County until 8:15 p.m. and Forrest County until 8 p.m. WDAM 7 Chief Meteorologist Patrick Bigbie said models were showing a tornado on the ground between Forrest and Lamar counties, adding to a night of overlapping alerts across the Pine Belt.
In Lamar County, Sheriff Danny Rigel said people inside the storm shelter were safe and that there was no damage reported at the shelter. He said damage had been reported around Industrial Park near Lamar Christian School, and Kyle Hill reported power lines down on Coal Town Road and Central Industrial Row. Lamar County’s road manager said there was a reported direct hit over the county emergency management, storm shelter and fire services.
PowerOutage.us also reported 923 Southern Pine Electric customers without power in the Pine Belt and 1,796 Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association customers experiencing outages. By Wednesday evening, the picture was clear: the Pine Belt was dealing with a fast-moving storm system that forced shelters open, knocked out power and left several counties with active tornado warnings at the same time.