The White House announced on Sunday that US President Joe Biden had directed government assistance to the state of Mississippi to aid in local recovery efforts in regions devastated by a deadly tornado.
Grants for interim housing, loans for house improvements, and low-interest loans to pay for uninsured property damages are also part of the federal aid.
A violent tornado that tore off roofs, smashed automobiles, and leveled entire neighborhoods in the southern US state of Mississippi killed at least 23 people.
At least four people are missing, dozens of others have been hurt, and tens of thousands of residents in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee are without power, according to the state’s emergency management office on Saturday.
A number of cities were hit along the road as the strong storm system that produced the tornado, coupled with thunderstorms and heavy rain, ripped a long route across the state late Friday.
A complete row of homes and buildings in the town of Rolling Fork, which has fewer than 2,000 residents, were destroyed, leaving just dispersed wreckage behind. Television footage revealed that cars were flipped over, fences were destroyed, and trees were uprooted.
Eldridge Walker, the mayor of Rolling Fork, told CNN, “My city is gone.” Devastation is all I can see as I look from left to right.
The town’s hardware shop employee Patricia Perkins told AFP that “almost everything is swept away.”
According to resident Shanta Howard, who works for ABC affiliate WAPT, residents had to assist in removing the corpses from the rubble of their homes.
“There was no notice at all. We had no idea what was going on, Tracy Harden, proprietor of Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, told CNN through tears.
In counties Sharkey and Humphreys, located approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of the state capital Jackson, search and rescue efforts were also in progress.
The emergency management organization reported 23 as the most recent death toll but warned that number could increase.
“The loss will be felt in these towns forever,” state Governor Tate Reeves said on Twitter. “Please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends.”