25 people were killed after a devastating tornado tore through several Mississippi towns
A Mississippi meteorologist became emotional and prayed live on air after forecasting a tornado was going to head through the town of Amory. On March 24, at least 25 people were killed after a devastating tornado tore through several Mississippi towns, according to AFP.
Matt Laubhan, the chief meteorologist for local network WTVA was shocked during his broadcast when he saw a tornado heading straight for Amory on the radar.
Referring to a tornado, Mr Laubhan said, "Assuming we're moving at 65 miles per hour I'd say the western few streets in Amory are now less than two minutes away. This is a strong life-threatening tornado that's going to move either extremely close to Amory or through the northern part of the city of Amory."
He further said, "Here's the thing about this, y'all trust me too much. I tell you where it goes and some of you are like 'that's where it's going to go,' but the reality is this could be changing directions. So Amory, we need to be in our tornado safe place."
During his forecast, he looked worried and emotional. He further wrote, "We got a new scan coming in now as we speak, argh man, north side of Amory, this is coming in. Argh man, dear Jesus please help them, amen."
"So, it's going to track along Highway 25, unfortunately, this is cut a little bit more east. This is going to cross the Highway 6 bridge within the next 20 seconds or so."
The powerful storm system that generated the tornado, accompanied by thunderstorms and driving rain, cut a long path across Mississippi late Friday, slamming several towns along the way.
In the hard-hit town of Rolling Fork, all that was left of an entire row of houses and buildings was scattered debris. Cars were overturned and smashed, fences were ripped up and trees uprooted, according to local television footage.
Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon notoriously difficult to predict, are relatively common in the US, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.