Easter Sunday storms take 11 lives as they tear through Mississippi

Easter Sunday 2020 now lives in Mississippi’s history forever. Storms and tornadoes ravaged the state leaving 11 dead and numerous others injured.

Early estimates from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency say there is significant damage in 18 counties. Some 72,000 service outages were reported from the state’s electrical power providers.

Two of the 11 who died were Lawrence County Deputy Sheriff Robert Ainsworth and his wife Paula, a Walthall County deputy justice court clerk. Initial reports indicate Ainsworth perished attempting to shield his wife from the storm that destroyed their Jayess, Miss., home.

The same storm is believed to have claimed three more lives near Bassfield in neighboring Jefferson Davis County.

Investigators from the National Weather Service and MEMA are on the ground this morning beginning the process of assessing damage and calibrating the power and track of these deadly storms.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued an emergency declaration late Sunday allowing necessary resources to be allocated to the affected areas.

At around 6:30 a.m. Monday, MEMA issued the following preliminary report on Sunday’s storms:

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is responding to the severe weather that hit the state on April 12, 2020. Additionally, Governor Tate Reeves signed a State of Emergency in response to this severe weather outbreak. There are 11 confirmed deaths and multiple injuries throughout the state due to the severe weather.

Counties Reporting Fatalities:

• Carroll – 1 Fatality
• Jefferson Davis – 4 fatalities
• Jones – 2 fatalities
• Lawrence – 2 fatalities
• Panola – 1 Fatality
• Walthall – 1 fatality

There are currently more than 72,000 without power in the state. At this time, 18 counties have submitted damage reports to MEMA. These are initial reports, numbers could increase or decrease throughout the day.

• Bolivar – 40 homes, 20 apartments, 20 roads debris, 20 roads damaged. 30 persons displaced.
• Carroll –2 homes, 7 roads closed due to debris
• Chickasaw –4 roads closed due to debris.
• Clarke –5 homes destroyed, 5 homes major damage, 5 with minor damage,7 mobile homes damaged
• Grenada –15 homes, 1 apartment, 100 roads closed due to debris
• Humphreys –1 home damaged, power poles down, 3 people displaced
• Jasper 8 homes destroyed, 6 homes major damaged, 6 homes minor damaged, 5 homes affected, 3 mobile homes destroyed, 40 displaced
• Jefferson Davis – 100 homes, 40 roads closed debris, 40 roads closed damage, 75-80 displaced, multiple powerlines down
• Jones – damage to structures
• Lafayette –5 homes damaged
• Montgomery –10 homes, 2 roads closed due to debris
• Newton –2 homes, 11 roads closed due to debris. 2 persons displaced.
• Noxubee –5 homes, 5 roads closed due to debris and 5 roads closed due to damage.
• Rankin –1 home damaged, 2 roads closed due to damage, 2 people displaced
• Smith – 10 homes, 2 apartments, 5 roads closed due to debris, 5 roads closed due to damage.
• Sharkey – 1 home damaged. Approx. 250 customers without power. Power and phones outage to Courthouse and Sheriff Dept. Calls routed to dispatcher’s office.
• Tate –3 homes damaged, 7 roads closed due to flooding/debris, 1 road closed due to damage. 1 road washed out
• Yazoo –8 homes damaged, 1 road closed due to debris, 2 people displaced

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is working with local county EMA directors to assess the need for long-term sheltering. The statewide shelter-in-place remains in effect. We want to remind people to social distance as best as possible and if you’re in a public shelter, wear some kind of mask to cover your mouth and nose to help slow the spread of COVID-19.