Tornadoes Hit Mississippi & Southeast, 9 Killed & Many Injured in Yazoo City, MS

All day Saturday weather forecasters put people on notice in the Southeast of severe weather and the potential for dangerous rail, hail and tornadoes. A tornado touched down in Yazoo City, MS, about 40 miles north of Jackson that caused much damage, destruction, death and injury.

Sadly this morning officials are raising the death toll to 9, including 2-3 children.

Mississippi official say the death toll has risen to nine from a devastating tornado that flattened homes and businesses in the state. More than a dozen others have been injured.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said five people were killed in Choctaw County, 3 in Yazoo County and 1 in Holmes County. No names have been released and details are not available.

Two of those dead in Choctaw county are children.

Gov. Haley Barbour told The Associated Press there was “utter obliteration” in parts of Yazoo County, an area where he is from. More than 15 other counties were also damaged.

Rescue workers dig through the rubble and devastation left in the path of the tornadoes that hit Mississippi on Saturday. Reports now state that there are up to 10 people dead.

The tornado struck at least 13 counties, destroying scores of homes and trapping people inside, damaging businesses, blocking highways and knocking out power to thousands, said the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Five people died in Choctaw County, four in Yazoo County and one in Holmes County, said Greg Flynn, spokesman at the agency.

Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency after the first major U.S. tornado of the year.

“It has done huge damage around Yazoo City,” Barbour, who grew up in the city, told CBS television.

“We have fatalities, a number of people that we’re still trying to rescue who are trapped in buildings. But it is a major, significant tornado … and it did some huge damage and perhaps some fatalities north of here,” Barbour said.