Mississippi Tornado Recovery
Jaquish Fox, 10, climbs over broken pine trees as he helps clean up what’s left of his aunt’s house along Highway 178 in Holly Springs on Thursday. The family was planning on gathering at the home for Christmas but have to change plans following Wednesday’s storms.
By Riley Manning Daily Journal
HOLLY SPRINGS, MS
Phyllis Evans woke up Thursday morning thankful for another day.
She and several dozen of her neighbors in the Rising Star Road community of Holly Springs narrowly escaped Wednesday afternoon’s tornado.
“I was sitting on the porch with my grandbaby watching the trees moving. We heard it was time to go take shelter, and by the time we got in the screen door, I heard it hit the house,” she said. “But God was good.”
Evans lives in the house with her son, daughter and two grandchildren. When the storm struck around 4 p.m., she and one grandchild were the only ones present in the house. Her son, Leandrew Zinn, was at work in Memphis. He came home to find their home torn apart. Thursday morning, he was still dazed.
“There wasn’t nothing fun about it,” he said. “This is probably the worst day of my life. We’re just waiting for some friends to get here so we can get what we can get out of it.”
Evans ran the house on a generator, and the air conditioning still functioned. She spent Wednesday night in her bedroom, which was left intact.
“You got to be in good spirits,” she said. “I’m making some coffee so I can get the neighbors something warm.”
Down the hill, Royce Luellen helped his wife Johnnie Luellen pick through their home in search of her insulin. They were away from the house when the storm struck and couldn’t reach it until 10 p.m. Wednesday night, after the road had been cleared. Like Evans, Royce said he’d lived in his home upwards of 25 years.
“I stayed in my truck last night to watch the house,” he said. “It’s a shock, man, but we’ve all been blessed. Nobody was hurt in this area. We’re going to try to get something done today.”
In the meantime, he guessed the family would stay with his brother.
The storm also dealt damage to houses along Highway 178. Kimberly Jackson was spending time with her son Frederick Jackson and her daughter Jasmine Jackson in Oxford when the tornado struck her four-bedroom home.
“I was getting a ham at Kroger (in Oxford) and I overheard it had hit Holly Springs and I went to running,” Kimberly said. “I was in Oxford helping deliver meals with my old sorority. I was giving to the needy and now I’m in the same situation.”
The wind had torn the carpet from the floor in the home, and toppled a tree onto one of the family’s vehicles. However, they maintained the attitude of thankfulness common among the victims.
“Forget the house,” Frederick said. “What’s a house compared to still being able to talk to your mom? It’s kind of a blessing in disguise. I don’t know what we’re going to do for Christmas, but we’ll be all right.”
Around 9 a.m. Thursday morning, reinforcements began arriving in the form of city electrical departments from Amory, Tupelo and other cities, as well as law enforcement from Lafayette County. Mayor Kelvin Buck said there were considerable power outages in the three areas primarily damaged – Highway 7 South, the Rising Star Road community and Old Highway 4. Buck said it could take as long as a week to restore power to some areas.
“We have about 4,000 customers without power in a large area of damage,” Buck said. “Having assistance from other cities in these areas where we couldn’t check last night is a huge help. We have our workers going around with MEMA officials making assessments and making sure no one was left behind.”
Parts of Mississippi remained under a flood warning Friday. Weather forecasters from the National Weather Service warned that a strong storm crossing the central part of the state could produce hail and winds of more than 40 mph.
The storm was bringing with it the risk of falling trees, downed power lines and flash flooding, officials said.
Authorities confirmed eight deaths in Mississippi, including that of a 7-year-old boy who was in a car that was swept up and tossed by a storm. Six more died in Tennessee, and one person was killed in Arkansas.
Eight Days of Hope, the Tupelo-based, all-volunteer national disaster relief ministry, will begin assisting in the tornado recovery process starting Sunday.
The organization’s rapid response ministry Hope Reigns is accepting volunteers for those interested in assisting. Anyone 18 and older can visit eightdaysofhope.com/hope-reigns or call (256) 501-1024. Donations also can be made at eightdaysofhope.com/donate.
More information on how to donate or volunteer is available at msdisasterresponse.org
The Associated Press contributed to this report