Patrick Bigbie Reports Mississippi Tornado Near Forrest, Lamar Counties
A mississippi tornado was reported on the ground in Jefferson Davis County on Wednesday evening, and tornado warnings quickly spread across the Pine Belt. NWS Jackson issued a warning for Jefferson Davis County until 9 p.m. after the report, while other counties faced separate warnings as storms moved through the region.
Jefferson Davis County warning
WDAM 7 declared a First Alert Day because of the severe weather threat on Wednesday, and a tornado watch went out for the Pine Belt around 2:30 p.m. Storm shelters started opening after that watch, giving residents a place to go as the system intensified.
Patrick Bigbie, WDAM 7 chief meteorologist, reported that models were showing a tornado on the ground between Forrest and Lamar counties. NWS Jackson then issued the Jefferson Davis County warning until 9 p.m. after a tornado was reported on the ground.
Forrest and Lamar counties
NWS Mobile extended the tornado warning for Perry County and issued one for Greene County until 8:30 p.m. Separate warnings were also issued for Perry County until 8:15 p.m., for Forrest County until 8 p.m., and for Forrest and Lamar counties until 7:30 p.m.
Terri Bell, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, said trees were reportedly down on Browns Ridge Road going into Purvis and one was down in Dubose. She also said Elks Road and Patrick Road were blocked, and trees were down in Dixie where a couple barns suffered damage.
Roads and outages
In Lamar County, Fire Coordinator Kyle Hill reported downed power lines on Coal Town Road and Central Industrial Row. Lamar County road managers reported a direct hit over the county emergency management, storm shelter, and fire services area, while Sheriff Danny Rigel said no damage was reported at the storm shelter and people inside were safe.
Rigel also said damage had been reported around Industrial Park near Lamar Christian School. WDAM 7 said roads were closed across Lamar County and emergency crews and first responders were working to clear them.
PowerOutage.us reported 1,043 customers were without power in the Jefferson Davis County area, while 923 Southern Pine Electric customers in the Pine Belt and 1,796 Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association customers were experiencing outages. For residents in the affected counties, the immediate step was to stay near shelter until the warnings expired and keep clear of blocked roads and downed lines.
