Mississippi Tornado Kills 10, Destroys Properties, Yazoo city in Shambles
As dawn broke today, rescue workers began their efforts to reach the areas of Mississippi, which were badly hit by a Tornado yesterday.
At least 10 people were killed in the twister, which struck cities from the central western border with Louisiana northeastward to Alabama.
Officials are afraid that death toll from the mile wide tornado could rise. The tornado decimated a church, destroyed houses, overturned cars and uprooted electricity poles plunging the region into state of darkness.
"You could just feel the glass and debris flying in and cutting you. It felt like minutes and minutes, but I'm sure it was just seconds the time that it lasted," said an eyewitness, who managed to escaped unhurt but lost a high school friend, who died protecting her children.
Talking to reporters, the spokesman of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Jeff Rent said that the victims included two children and one 3-month-old baby. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who was in Yazoo City, when the tornado hit the region, called it "gigantic" and said that "in places (it) seemed to be to be several miles wide." Around 30 homes were destroyed in Eagle Lake, near the Louisiana border, while 50 homes in Holmes County were damaged.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of president Barack Obama said that the president has "been briefed on the tragedy in Mississippi and the situation is being followed by the White House." Bill Burton added that Obama has not yet asked for the federal aid but is likely to do so tomorrow.
