Joe Biden creates ‘heartbreaking’ photos after tornado hits Mississippi

According to more provisional reports, at least 23 people were killed in the southern state of the country. This weather phenomenon, impressive as it is difficult to predict, is relatively common in the United States.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday spoke of the “heartbreaking images” of the tornado that killed at least 23 people in the (southern) state of Mississippi.

“The images across Mississippi are heartbreaking,” he said in a statement, stressing that the federal government will “do everything we can to help” “as long as it takes.”

An estimate is still tentative

At least 23 people were killed after a tornado swept through Mississippi, the southern state’s governor said on Saturday, leaving a devastated landscape.

“This is a tragedy,” Governor Tate Reeves said on Twitter, referring to the “catastrophic damage” after the tornado crossed the Mississippi River more than 150 km from west to east on Friday evening.

And the numbers could get worse. “Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to change,” Mississippi State Emergency Services (MSEMA) said on Twitter. Rescue teams are engaged in searching for the victims.

“all swept away”

In Rolling Fork, a town of about 2,000 people in west Mississippi, images Saturday morning showed entire rows of houses torn from their flimsy foundations, streets strewn with debris and cars flipped onto their roofs. Two semi-trailers were piled on top of each other.

One house had trees uprooted and pieces of metal wrapped around the trunks, still standing but wobbly, the ground collapsing.

“Almost everything has been washed away” in the city, Patricia Perkins, 61, told AFP by phone. “Most of the shops were demolished by the typhoon,” says an employee of a hardware store.

Freed from rubble

Aaron Rigsby, a tornado hunter, described arriving at the scene Friday evening and “hearing the screams of people trapped in the rubble, calling for help.” “One lady could not take shelter in time and was cut, the roof of her house fell on her,” he told AFP.

“I freed her from the rubble” and sought help when she injured her leg, he adds.

Another woman was “trapped between her sofa, ceiling tiles and a fridge”, he said, repeating the same scenes all over the city.

A relatively common occurrence

“The priority at this point” is “ensuring the safety of people who are alive and locating people to make sure they’re safe,” MSEMA’s Mallory White said. This Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) branch in Mississippi’s capital, Jackson, indicated that “a tornado watch has been discontinued for the entire affected area.”

“Further showers and thunderstorms are expected in our area,” he tweeted, stressing that “they should not be as heavy as forecast.”

This weather phenomenon, interesting as it is difficult to predict, is relatively common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country. As of December 2021, approximately 80 people have died from tornadoes that have hit Kentucky.