A tornado on Sunday night ripped through a small town in Mississippi killing one and injuring around 20.
It arrived in Louin in Jasper County – a small town of around 275 people – at around 11.40pm and tore apart houses, trapping residents under their homes and triggering a rescue operation through the night.
Injured residents were seen being loaded from among the rubble onto stretchers and into ambulances to the South Central Regional Medical Center in Jackson.
Aerial footage captured once the sun had risen on Monday morning showed the extent of the damage to homes and cars.
Fast winds tore out trees and in central and eastern Mississippi and as many as 50 percent of residents were left without power on Monday morning.
The tornado in Louin comes after series of storms swept across the South last week, killing five, including three in Perryton in Texas. On Friday more than 50 million Americans were placed under a severe weather threat.
A tornado ripped through Louin, Mississippi, at around 11.40pm on Sunday, tearing apart homes and submerging residents in rubble
A man is pictured among the ruins in Louin, where a tornado struck on Sunday night, killing one and injuring 20
The tornado to hit Louin, MS, last night after a cluster of tornadoes struck the South last week. Pictured is a storm from Branch in Morton, Mississippi, earlier on Sunday
Accompanying the warnings of potential tornadoes was large hail and wind speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Pictured is a storm on Sunday
Storm chaser Brandon Clement was in Louin during the rescue operation and described damage as significant.
‘Many homes damaged or destroyed. First responders and volunteers did amazing rescuing people. At one point they ran out of ambulances and started using a humvee to transport injured to the hospital,’ he tweeted on Monday morning.
Becky Collins of the South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel, Mississippi, confirmed with AccuWeather that at least one person has died and at least 20 people were injured by the tornado.
As of Monday morning, most were in stable condition and some had been released from the hospital, according to Collins.
‘Significant tornado in Louin, MS around 05z this morning. At least a mid EF2 from what I’ve seen so far. Will know more after sunrise,’ tweeted meteorologist Layten Holland.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said another tornado struck Rankin County, southeast of Florence the same night, though did not result in fatalities.
The National Weather Service also had tornado warnings in place in other parts of Mississippi, including Mount Olive, Snell, Collins and Bassfield and said a Tornado watch would be in place for Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi through 8am on Monday.
A large tornado left severe damage to structures in Louin, Mississippi, overnight on Sunday
Louin in Mississippi has a small population of less than 300 people. At least 20 residents were injured and taken to a hospital in Jackson
Pictured is damage inflicted by the tornado to Louin on Sunday night
Swathes of the country between Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida were said to be at risk of tornadoes last week
Accompanying the warnings of potential tornadoes was large hail and wind speeds of up to 70 miles per hour
Accompanying the warnings of potential tornadoes was large hail and wind speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.
Entergy Mississippi President and CEO Haley Fisackerly told local station WAPT16 that more than 2,000 workers from six states had been called in to help restore power.
‘We feel your pain,’ Fisackerly told the outlet. ‘Our employees are working in this weather, and they, too, don’t have power, so we know what it’s like. We are very empathetic, and we are working as quickly and as safely as possible.’
Felecia Bowser, a National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida, called the storm system unprecedented for this time of year.
‘In June, we’re usually gearing up more for tropical weather,’ Bowser said.
‘This type of widespread, aggressive precipitation that we’re seeing today usually occurs more so in the spring.’
In March multiple tornadoes killed more than 20 people as a cluster struck the state.
