EF1 tornado hits portion of Chickasaw County Sunday night

CHICKASAW COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Strong storms hit several counties in our area Sunday night and left debris and downed power lines.

People who live in the Road Chapel area in Chickasaw County said the storms came quickly but they were strong.

The clean-up process is underway for most, but one family nearly lost it all

“It’s devastating, but it’s something that I always felt was going to happen to in this mobile home every time the wind blows you can just feel it just shaking the whole house,” said storm victim Brianna Barnes.

Brianna Barnes’ mobile home was destroyed after storms hit the area Sunday night.

Fortunately, no one was home.

“We went to his mom’s house last night and I guess we’re going to be staying there for a little while until we can get back on our feet and figure this whole thing out,” said Barnes.

Not even a mile away from her home a neighbor had two trees and other debris covering his driveway and backyard.

Even over in Itawamba County, a greenhouse was destroyed.

“The unusual part of it is it usually doesn’t happen in June so that’s kind of what caught a lot of people off guard as well but we were under a severe thunderstorm warning through the weather service to be on the lookout for a possible tornado formation in our county,” said Chickasaw County EMA Director Linda Griffin.

Griffin said storms swept through the Chickasaw County area around 9 a.m. but hit the County Road 416 area was hit the hardest.

She and Road Chapel Volunteer Fire Chief Eddie Wiggs said power crews had been working since the storm ended.

The national weather service of Memphis confirmed an EF1 tornado hit the area.

Meanwhile, Barnes encouraged anyone in a mobile home to always stay weather aware.

“If you’re in a mobile home and there are storms coming, I don’t care if it’s a little bit of wind. Get out, because the smallest bit of wind can do a lot of damage. It doesn’t have to be a tornado,” said Barnes.

Griffin said Okolona is working to have seven active storm shelters so more people will have a safe place in case they don’t have one at home.

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