GREENE COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) – The National Weather Service in Mobile has confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Greene County on Monday night.
NWS teams conducted a damage survey on Tuesday and found evidence a tornado passed through the area, but the exact track and timeline has yet to be determined.
The NWS found the tornado had a wind speed of 105 mph. and was on the ground for 1.20 miles, from 6:08 p.m. until 6:10 p.m. The tornado was the width of two football fields at its largest point.
According to the NWS, the tornado touched down just east of Old Ditch Road, snapping numerous softwood pines. The tornado moved northeast, increasing its width to 200 yards, leaving a clear convergent path of softwoods. The tornado weakened as it approached Piave Church Road.
The survey teams found that a few homes had minor roof damage. The tornado lifted after crossing Piave Church Road, but not before uprooting more trees and removing a tin roof from a mobile home porch.
Scottie Brewer and his family live on Piave Church Road in northern Greene County. The Brewer home received a good bit of damage from Monday night’s storms.
“I had got home from work. I went in, ate supper, sat down to watch a movie with the kids, and suddenly, we just heard a roar,” Brewer said. “I turned the TV off and went to open the front door, looked out and I thought, ‘It’s just some bad winds.’ When I closed the door, I heard stuff flying. It happened so quick, about two minutes. We ran into the bedroom, into the bathroom tub. My wife jumped on the kids. I jumped on them. It probably didn’t last two or three minutes, and it was over with.”
The Brewers and other families who live on Piave Church Road are still cleaning up the mess left by the tornado.
“It tore my whole tin roof off, tore my porch off,” said Brewer. “The top come off, and it hit my wife’s truck, busted it all up. Tree damage out in my field. Trees landed all on my fence and everything.”
All along the road, there are trees in ditches, tin hanging from the still-standing trees and a lot of snapped trees.
“We’re just thankful and blessed that we’re still alive,” said Brewer.
According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, four homes were damaged in Greene County on Monday night.
by Carly Blake (2020, Feb 11) WDAM
