PEARL – 18 counties were left with damage to pick up after Monday’s storms, according to officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Update 4:36 p.m. : According to the National Weather Service, the state of Mississippi was hit by four tornadoes during Monday’s storms. The most dangerous being an EF-2 in Covington County. Simpson County, Jefferson County and the Lincoln/Copiah County line, all had tornadoes between EF-0 and EF-1.The NWS said that the total number of tornadoes could go up as more of the state is examined.
Update 7:02 a.m : The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down in Covington County. It caused several down trees and structural damage in Mt. Olive.
Other areas effected were along Hwy 49, Hwy 532, and Coulee Springs road.
Covington County Emergency Management officials said early reports indicate that the tornado did not cause any injuries.
As of Monday, nearly 20,000 people were without power. Entergy reported 11,042 outages, while Southern Pine reported 7, 329.
The following counties have reported damage:
· Claiborne: Trees and powerlines down.
· Clarke: Trees and powerlines down.
· Copiah: Home and Sweetwater United Methodist Church damaged, trees and powerlines down.
· Covington: Homes damaged, trees and powerlines down.
· Forrest: Flash flooding and trees down.
· Jefferson: Trees down.
· Jones: Trees down.
· Perry: Trees and powerlines down.
· Lamar: Trees and powerlines down.
· Lauderdale: Home damaged, trees and powerlines down.
· Lawrence: Trees and powerlines down.
· Lincoln: Home damaged and trees and powerlines down near Brookhaven.
· Marion: Home damaged, trees and powerlines down.
· Pearl River: Trees and powerlines down.
· Pike: Homes damaged, trees and powerlines down.
· Simpson: Homes and chicken houses damaged near Mendenhall.
· Smith: Trees down and power outages.
· Walthall: Homes damaged, trees and powerlines down.
The National Weather Service will determine if the damage was caused by tornadoes. Two NWS surveyor teams will get started Tuesday in Simpson, Copiah, and Covington counties, with Jasper, Smith, and Clarke counties following. The counties will be surveyed as the teams have the time and resources, and if the need is determined.
The State Emergency Operations Center is staffed and monitoring conditions and requests for resources from counties.
