Storm kills four in southern U.S.

Woman dies in Mississippi storm during 911 call

A Mississippi woman who desperately tried to direct rescuers to her sinking vehicle after it skidded into a rainswollen creek was among four people killed in storms across the South.

Jacqueline Williams, 52, ran off a road into a creek in Florence before dawn Monday and dialed 911 from the car as it went down, said Rankin County Coroner David Ruth.

Ruth said Williams, who lived in Florence, was trying to relay her location to a dispatcher as the car settled into the swirling waters.

“She was trying to tell the dispatcher where she was, and she could actually hear the sirens,” Ruth said.

The two lost contact, and Ruth said a swift-water recovery team later found Williams’ body in the creek outside the car.

Florence Police Chief Richard Thomas told WJTV that the current where Williams died was fast and strong.

Thomas said authorities got a call from a woman saying her car was being swept off into the water around 4 a.m. Authorities immediately began looking but couldn’t find her in time.

“It was really quick,” Thomas said.

The woman’s body was eventually recovered, but Thomas said authorities were waiting for the waters to recede so they could recover the vehicle.

Florence is a town of about 4,000 people.

Two other people died earlier in Louisiana, a mother an her three-year-old daughter whose trailer was destroyed near Breaux Bridge, La., Sunday.

Forecasters said tornadoes and strong winds were likely from Mississippi to South Carolina. The greatest tornado risk was centred over southern Alabama, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma said.

Some schools in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama cancelled or delayed the start of classes Monday so students wouldn’t travel in heavy rain or on flooded streets.

Forecasters said about 3 inches of rain already had fallen in parts of western Alabama. Alabama Power said more than 27,000 homes and businesses were without electricity.

By Monday morning, the worst of the weather to hit Louisiana had passed through but left pockets of tornado damage and flooding.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a statewide emergency declaration Monday before embarking on a trip to survey storm damage in two central and southern parishes.