EF2 Tornado — Holmes, Mississippi

2023-03-24 · near Refuge, Holmes, Mississippi

Event narrative

This long track, violent tornado began over northern

Issaquena County near Grant Rd, downing multiple trees and damaging

two older outbuildings. It tracked northeastward, producing tree

damage as it crossed the Steele Bayou Canal before crossing into

Sharkey County. At this point, the tornado began to substantially

increase in size and intensity. A very high percentage of trees were

snapped along the path through a wooded area south of Bear Lake Rd.

It was in this wooded area where the first indications of EF3 to EF4

damage were noted, with at least one tree and root ball and several

more large tree pieces fully displaced into the downstream field.

From this point along the path in Sharkey County, there was a well

defined confluence zone in damage along the center of the tornado

track.

On the western outskirts of the city of Rolling Fork, homes began to

be impacted with significant roof damage along Bear Lake Rd. Several

tall wooden utility transmission poles were snapped along Bear

Lake Rd and MS Highway 826. Along Pinkins Rd, each structure along

the road, including several manufactured homes and two site built

homes, was demolished. Structures on the west end of the road

were scattered radially southeastward, and structures on the east

end of the road were scattered northward. An occupant of one of

the mobile homes was critically injured during the tornado and

eventually passed away nearly four weeks later. Debarking was

observed on several hardwood trees, with only stubs of the main

branches of some trees remaining. Crossing MS 826 and along

Fleetwood Rd, an older metal building was swept away, a small home

was destroyed and numerous manufactured homes were destroyed.

As the tornado moved into the western side of Rolling Fork, the

tornadic wind field was broad, encompassing the area from Race St,

where exterior damage occurred to the Sharkey Issaquena Hospital, to

Bear Lake Rd on the south end where several utility poles were

snapped. The corridor of greatest damage on the west side of the

city, rated high end EF3, extended from 7th St between Martin Ave

and Joor Ave to 3rd St between Southern Ave and Lewis Ave. In this

area, multiple homes lost most exterior walls, several more lost

roofs and some walls, and even more received at least minor damage.

Two fatalities occurred along 7th St when a trailer truck was tossed

into a home. Through this corridor, additional debarking of trees

was noted near the center of the path. Brief and minor weakening

occurred as the tornado moved east of 3rd St and began to approach

Deer Creek, with EF2 damage still common. Along the creek, the

fire station, Rolling Fork Elementary School, and South Delta High

School all sustained roof and other exterior damage.

After the tornado crossed Deer Creek and began to move into the

downtown area of Rolling Fork, reintensification occurred.

Additional EF4 damage was noted in the block between Sharkey St and

Worthington Ave and north of Collette Ave where a home and a duplex

apartment were entirely demolished, with the foundation of the

duplex partially swept. Large metal buildings at an agriculture

business at the intersection of East St and West Ave were destroyed.

A fatality occurred when a mobile home along Worthington Ave was

destroyed. On Parkway Ave, a Masonic lodge was leveled and a gas

station was substantially damaged.

The tornado then crossed Rolling Fork Creek, damaging and destroying

several structures along McLaurin St and China St. A water tower

east of Hicks Ave, which was in service at the time of the tornado,

was felled in a southeastward direction, perpendicular to the

tornado path. In the downtown area, the roof was removed from the

Rolling Fork US Post Office, portions of Rolling Fork City Hall, and

portions of the Rolling Fork Police Department. The Sharkey County

Courthouse received damage to the roof and some windows, with the

cupola removed. Additional EF4 damage was observed as the tornado

crossed Walnut St, with multiple homes and businesses having all or

most walls downed. One building in this corridor was compromised by

two tossed tractor trailers and another was compromised by a

southward facing metal door. A fatality occurred when a mobile home

off Sidney Alexander St north of Walnut St was destroyed.

The tornado reached its peak intensity as it approached US Highway

61 just north of Walnut St. Multiple brick homes along Mulberry St

were leveled, with debris remaining on the foundations. A discount

retail chain store was completely destroyed, with much of the debris

swept to the downstream side of the foundation and rowed along the

tornado path. Two people died at this location. A gift/floral shop

was destroyed, with most debris swept from the foundation.

Additional businesses, including a lumber/hardware store, two

restaurants, a furniture store, and an insurance agency were also

destroyed in this area. One occupant of a truck traveling along US

61 was killed when the tornado tossed his vehicle from the highway

to near the lumber/hardware store. A mobile/manufactured home park

on the east side of US 61 was devastated, with all 30-35 homes

destroyed. Considerable debris from these homes was rowed 300-400

yards downstream along the tornado path into an adjacent field

and stand of trees. Six occupants of these homes died in the

tornado.

The tornado remained strong to violent as it continued northeast of

Rolling Fork across mainly open fields. Through these fields, aerial

imagery revealed multiple areas of ground scarring. The tornado

crossed Matthews Rd near a catfish farm, where several utility poles

were snapped near the ground and covered in 1 to 2 inches of mud.

Some of the poles were tossed into nearby ponds. Prolific tree

damage occurred along Sandy Bayou, with a few buildings along the

outer edges of the path damaged and a tractor trailer flipped.

Another area of EF4 damage was observed from Widow Bayou and E River

Rd northeastward through Dogwood Rd and Linsey Rd. Through this

corridor, extraordinary hardwood tree damage occurred with most

trees completely mangled and debarking noted. There was additional

evidence of trees or large parts of trees being tossed or dragged a

short distance. Several utility poles were snapped, with some tossed

a short distance. An outbuilding type structure off Dogwood Rd was

blown away, with a school bus from the property tossed into nearby

trees. Ground scarring and cycloidal marks were observed in the

field between Dogwood Rd and Linsey Rd, along with mulched tree

debris which was rowed into a narrow line along the center of the

tornado path. Tree damage continued across Keith Rd and Charlie Pitt

Rd as the tornado approached MS Highway 14.

East of Anguilla along MS Highway 14, a frame home was completely

destroyed. Near the home, several power poles were snapped or

broken. Tree damage was extensive with large areas mowed down. A

tenth of a mile east, a mobile home was rolled into nearby trees.

Moving into Humphreys County, along Prudent Rd, most of the roof

was taken off of a home, where the garage collapsed along with a

portion of the front porch. One vehicle was flipped and another

was moved. A metal workshop was destroyed and structural beams

were bent. Along the road, several power poles were snapped and

thrown a couple hundred feet into a nearby field. As the tornado

approached and crossed Seven Mile Rd, intensity increased. Here,

several metal buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed with

structural beams bent. Grain bins had sides collapsed and the tops

blown off. A small brick home was completely destroyed with all

of the exterior walls collapsed. The home next door had a large

portion of the roof removed and part of a wall had collapsed.

Debris from the home was thrown several hundred feet into a nearby

field. Vehicles were moved out of the garage and a large grain

storage cart was thrown into the field as well.

For several miles, the tornado traveled along MS Highway 149

moving toward Silver City where large areas of hardwood trees were

snapped and uprooted. Multiple center pivot irrigation systems

were flipped. A mobile home was completely destroyed when it was

rolled into a nearby field. A portion of the roof was blown off a

school. A community along the same road had several homes with

significant roof damage, and at least one home had decking

material partially removed. Several homes and a large metal

building were severely damaged when portions of the roof were

blown off. A second metal building was completely destroyed with

large structural posts bent.

As the tornado came into Silver City from the west along Highway

149, an apartment complex was heavily damaged. Several buildings

had sections of the roof removed and one building had portions of

the western walls partially collapsed. A fatality occurred in one

of the single story apartment buildings. In the nearby

neighborhood, numerous homes had roof damage. At least two frame

homes were destroyed where one or more exterior walls collapsed. A

large number of old hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted. As

the storm moved east toward US 49W, more trees were snapped and

uprooted. Several homes and a church near the intersection of

MS Highway 14 and US 49W had areas of the roof damaged or

removed. Four mobile homes were completely destroyed. One person

died when a mobile home was tossed into a house, and a child died

in one of the mobile homes that was destroyed. Numerous trees

were snapped and uprooted, a few of which fell on homes. The

rating in the Silver City area ranged from EF1-EF2.

The tornado continued to track east where mostly tree damage

occurred. In rural portions of Holmes County northeast of Tchula,

there was substantial tree damage with swaths of snapped and

uprooted trees. Several center pivot irrigation systems were

overturned and grain bins were flipped or destroyed. The tornado

continued to move northeast before dissipating in a wooded area

north of Randall Road. The maximum estimated wind gusts in Holmes County were 115 mph. The total path length was 59.35 miles across the four counties. An estimated 165 injuries were caused by this tornado, including 150 in Sharkey County and 15 in Humphreys County.

Wider weather episode

In the afternoon and evening of the 24th, clusters of strong to severe storms were stretched from southwest to northeast across southeastern Arkansas as robust instability and very strong wind shear served to produce a volatile severe weather environment. To the east in Mississippi, storm activity proved to be more isolated as deep convection struggled develop across the state. With much of the area not being convectively overturned, an area of thunderstorm activity near the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, MS began to become stronger and took advantage of the open warm sector environment, well east of the competitive storm environment to the west that had thus far impeded tornado development. This area of thunderstorm activity quickly consolidated into an organized supercell and produced a family of long track, strong to violent tornadoes from the Mississippi Delta, across central Mississippi, and finally into portions of northeast Mississippi. This cyclical tornado-producing supercell was responsible for the vast majority of severe weather reports from the day and would claim 22 lives across the state. Dozens more were injured, and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed by these tornadoes. Having wrought widespread destruction across the area, this tornado event by most any measure represents a historic degree of devastation for the state of Mississippi and the region at large.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.1785, -90.3303)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1102160. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.