Possible tornadoes damage parts of Mississippi, Louisiana

JACKSON, Miss. — Residents in northeast Louisiana and central Mississippi were cutting up fallen pine trees and assessing damage Wednesday after apparent tornadoes hit the region.

Officials in Mississippi said eight to 10 houses were damaged in Star, a fringe suburb southeast of Jackson. Trees for a time blocked U.S. 49, a major highway.

Damage was also reported from an earlier storm near Baskin, Louisiana, a rural town southeast of Monroe.

No injuries were reported in Mississippi. Initial National Weather Service reports show two people injured when a mobile home flipped in Baskin.

“We were blessed not to have injuries,” tweeted Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who added it’s “still a difficult time for these families.”

Star resident Cameron Knight told WAPT-TV he was driving home when the wind picked up and started blowing his truck around. Knight said his brother called him crying.

“I was just hoping everyone was OK,” Knight said. “Debris was going everywhere. When I pulled up, we had a tree down in our driveway that barely missed our house, but it did hit my mom’s car and my brother’s car.”

Knight said his father’s two classic Mustangs were heavily damaged by the tornado.

Baskin resident Betsy Wood told KTVE-TV she and her relatives huddled together and prayed, saying she told someone: “We’re fixing to get blowed away.”

“You could hear stuff hitting the house and scattering all around,” said Wood. Her house wasn’t seriously damaged, although several outbuildings were destroyed.

Weather Service meteorologist Dan Byrd said

“I was just hoping everyone was OK. Debris was

going everywhere.” — Cameron Knight of Star, Mississippi

surveyors were assessing damage Wednesday in those and other locations. A second tornado is suspected in Smith County east of star, but officials reported no structure damage Wednesday morning.

Byrd said tornadoes around Thanksgiving in Mississippi and Louisiana are not unusual. November is among the most active months for twisters in the region.

Sarah Warnock/The Clarion-Ledger via AP ■ An early morning tornado caused substantial damage to the home and property of Tammy and Bubba McLendon on Wednesday in Star, Miss. Officials from Rankin County, Miss., Emergency Management Agency, the Attorney General’s Office, Entergy and the National Weather Service are surveying the area, with Red Cross providing relief services to residents. The storm reportedly did not cause any injuries or fatalities.