Washington:
Tornadoes tore through the southern US state of Mississippi, killing at least seven people, injuring nearly two dozen and destroying homes, officials have said. The severe spring storms and tornadoes killed three people in Choctaw County, three in Yazoo County and another in Holmes County as they moved northeastward, said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Jeff Rent.
Two of the victims were believed to be children and the toll was expected to mount as rescuers cleared the debris. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency in 17 counties devastated by the storms and twisters, and called on the National Guard to help local officials in their emergency response. American Red Cross workers have also been dispatched to areas affected by the severe weather. "The effects of these storms have left many Mississippians with destroyed businesses and without homes," Barbour said in a statement.
Severe weather unleashed tornadoes that damaged buildings and downed trees and power lines, while the US National Weather Service warned that strong tornadoes were developing in neighbouring states. Four victims were flown by helicopter from hard-hit Yazoo City to the University of Mississippi Medical Centre in Jackson, while the American Medical Response service transported 17 others by ambulance to area hospitals, AMR spokesman Jim Pollard said.
The tornado that blasted through Yazoo City was nearly a 1.6 kilometres wide with winds whizzing at about 241 km per hour, according to meteorologists. "It reminds me of (Hurricane) Katrina," a teary-eyed Barbour told local reporters of the damage in Yazoo City, where he lives.
Rescuers were struggling to get into Yazoo because of the vast amount of destruction in this city in a hilly area on the edge of the Mississippi Delta, explained Barbour's spokesman Dan Turner. Helicopters were swooping overhead to assess the damage as rapid response teams searched for victims. AMR operations in other parts of the state were dispatching ambulances to affected areas, while the emergency management agency in Rankin County sent a bus converted to a multi-patient ambulance.
"The patients had a range of injuries from minor to severe. In any tornado, any part of the body is vulnerable or susceptible to a wide variety of injuries," Pollard said, noting that other "walking wounded" patients were treated on site.