The National Weather Service confirmed late Saturday night that an EF-2 tornado hit the Meridian area earlier in the day.
The tornado had estimated maximum winds of 115 mph and knocked out power in Meridian and Marion, uprooting trees and blocking Highway 45 south of Marion.
Emergency responders reported one injury but that injury wasn’t life-threatening.
Magnolia Middle School on 24th Street was hit and the roof was torn off several apartments at George Reece Courts. Throughout downtown Meridian, trees were uprooted and signs were blown off buildings.
“We’re going to start doing damage assessments (Sunday),” said Doug Stephens, the director of the city’s Public Safety Training Facility. “We’re starting to produce a list of houses that have been damaged.”
Leaders in Meridian and Marion implemented a mandatory curfew until 7 a.m. Sunday, limiting unnecessary travel so that emergency responders could clear roadways, fix power lines and address the damage safely.
“The reason that we placed that curfew is for the safety of everybody that’s out there,” Stephens said. “We have crews out there trying to clear these streets and move power lines and in order to do that safely and make sure that we don’t have pedestrians out on these roads we have asked that citizens… adhere to the curfew so that we can get out there and do this.”
The storm passed through around 11 a.m. after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning.
Meridian police responded to calls from some people trapped in their homes by fallen trees, Meridian Police Sgt. Dareall Thompson said. The fire department helped to extract residents. Thompson reported no injuries.
Stephens urged residents to avoid travel and check on their neighbors, especially those who are elderly or didn’t have the ability to contact emergency officials.
“Those of you who didn’t have any damage, check on your neighbor. Maybe it’s an elderly person or someone who didn’t have the means to contact 911 that we might have overlooked,” Stephens said. “And we want to make sure that everyone is accounted for.”
Stephens also urged people not to to remove trees on their own, because power lines could be tangled up in the branches and potentially injure residents.
At least one building in the county had extensive damage, with strong winds taking off one-third of a roof, according to Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun.
Lauderdale County Fire Coordinator Allan Dover reported downed trees in Marion and Suqualena but no other major damage or injuries.
By late afternoon, a NWS storm survey team had determined that an EF-1 tornado hit along Lakeland Drive in Flowood.
A survey team spent the late afternoon and evening assessing damage around Meridian, and surveys in other parts of the area are planned for Sunday.
The Meridian Fire Department also responded to a house fire on Maple Road during the storm, but the cause of the fire didn’t appear to be storm-related, according to Fire Marshall Jason Collier.
Collier reported no injuries from the fire, which occurred around noon.
Power outages
Traffic lights were damaged on Highway 39 and Front Street Extensions and many homes and businesses lost power in Meridian and Marion. Power outages stretched across the eastern half of Meridian and Marion, including traffic lights on 23rd Avenue, Highway 39 and Dale Drive. Some traffic lights had been damaged and hung from power lines in the middle of intersections.
Partial power restoration began in downtown Meridian just after 2 p.m.
At 9:20 p.m, 2,264 Mississippi Power customers remained without power. EMEPA and Southern Pine customers also experienced outages, but power was restored to most of them by Saturday night.
Dave Bohrer, Robbie Ward and Bill Graham contributed to this report.
by Whitney Downard (The Meridian Star)
April 14, 2018
