Bryant said the deadly EF3-rated twister was one of 14 tornadoes in the state Wednesday. The seven dead include four in Benton County, two in Marshall County and one in Tippah County. One person was still missing in Benton County Thursday afternoon, he said.
“We’re praying against all hope that we will find that one individual alive and well,” Bryant said at a news conference outside the demolished Mississippi Department of Transportation facility on the outskirts of the Benton County town of Ashland.
Bryant, who earlier Thursday declared a state of emergency for six affected counties to get the ball rolling on financial assistance, received an update in Holly Springs before traveling to Ashland. “The damage was localized, but this was among the worst damage I’ve seen when you look at the areas where it hit,” Bryant said. “And I’ve seen a lot of tornadoes.”
Bryant was accompanied by U.S. Rep Trent Kelly, R-Miss., and state Treasurer Lynn Fitch, who is from the area.
Asked about the status of efforts to find victims, Bryant said: “We believe we have completed the search and rescue portion. We are now in the recovery phase.”
He said he hoped Emergency Management officials would complete an assessment of damages by early next week, but the job is likely to be hampered by more rain expected to move through the area in the coming days.
Tennessee Emergency management Agency executive officer of external affairs Dean Flener said the severe weather killed at least three people in that state. The victims include a 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman in Perry County and a 22-year-old man in Rhea County.
It wasn’t the Christmas Eve anyone was expecting.
In Holly Springs, David Carter had planned to have his grandchildren over. Instead, he spent Christmas Eve morning standing amid the remains of his home on Rising Star Road talking to an insurance adjuster on a cell phone hooked up to a large portable battery.
Carter said had been talking on the phone to his brother-in-law in Evansville, Indiana, when the storm hit. “He was telling me a tornado was headed this way and then we lost the connection,” Carter said. “I heard what sounded like rats scratching at the wall and went into the hall to see what it was. Then the ceiling just opened up.”
Carter said he ran and balled up in a bedroom closet, until the roof began coming off in there too.
“I felt like I was going to get sucked out and I just said, ‘Lord, what is this.’ It probably lasted about a minute, but it seemed like an eternity.”
Carter was home alone.
“I’m glad my wife wasn’t here,” he said. “She would probably have grabbed me and we’d both been dead.”
Next door, Melvin Faulkner was picking through what was left of the home of his parents, Willie and Kathy Rutherford, looking for any salvageable Christmas presents.
“I was on my way here from Georgia when they called Wednesday,” Faulkner said. “They were still kind of in shock, but everybody is OK.”
Weather officials said the multiple tornadoes that touched down in Mississippi were part of a band of severe weather that moved through the South.
“It’s probably the worst we’ve seen since Smithville,” said Greg Flynn, director of external affairs for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. He was referring to the April 2011 tornado that killed 16 and injured about 40 in Smithville, Mississippi.
MDOT Executive Director Melinda McGrath said the destroyed Benton County facility where Bryant spoke included four buildings.
"Four buildings and several pieces of equipment were damaged beyond repair," McGrath said.
Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert said MDOT crews worked throughout Wednesday evening to clear debris from affected areas, and he reported all roads were reopened Thursday morning.
Olive Branch Mayor Scott Phillips and emergency workers from his city were in Holly
Springs Thursday morning, and Philips said they would stay to help as long as needed.
"We're all community," he said. "This is just what we do."
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©2015 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)
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