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Dwayne Harrell of Verona inspects the uprooted tree that damaged his house and a rental car in his front yard Wednesday morning. (C. Todd Sherman)
Definite rotating updraft base on south side of MSU campus. Twitter photo by @Ryan_Hoke.
Picture taken at home in Nettleton, Highway 6 east. Over a dozen trees down in backyard. Photo Phillip Baulch.
City of Nettleton employee Bubba Wiygul continues to cut up a downed oak tree that had Hwy. 6 through Nettleton blocked for several hour Wednesday morning. (Thomas Wells)
UPDATE: 6:30 a.m. - Today's forecast ...
Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 76. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. South southeast wind around 5 mph.
UPDATE 10 p.m.: No longer any tornado warnings in the Northeast Mississippi area. ... Should be more rain throughout the evening. ... No injuries due to the storm have been reported at this time.
UPDATE: 9:44 p.m. - Reports of several trees down in Calhoun County and Northern Monroe County.
UPDATE: 9:34 p.m. - Damage and Weather reports ...
Reports power out in most of Houston.
Reports of trees down on southeast side of Starkville.
Amory Public reports hail of quarter size at 9:13 PM CDT.
Reports in Shannon of winds at 60 mph through town.
UPDATE 8:50 p.m.: Tornado Warning for Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee and Monroe Counties until 9:30 p.m. ... Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha County in MS until 9:45 p.m.
UPDATE: 6:44 p.m. - VERONA – Dwayne Harrell was counting his blessings Wednesday morning, even as he stood among the damage left in his yard by high winds and rain that swept across Northeast Mississippi early Wednesday.
“I’m just thankful to be alive,” he said.
Harrell’s home on East Main Street in Verona was one of several structures battered by the storm system, which knocked down trees, created electrical problems and delayed the start of classes at some schools.
Later in the day, the dangerous weather returned with tornado warnings and possible sightings in Clay and Oktibbeha counties. No injuries were reported in any of the weather-related incidents.
As the storm blew through Verona, Harrell was at home with his adult daughter, who was watching from a window when a wind-blown tree started falling toward her bedroom.
She darted into a hallway just as the tree crashed into the house and also damaged a rental car in front of the house.
Harrell, meanwhile, was on the porch jut before the tree fell.
“I’ve never seen such wind,” he said. Elsewhere, Nettleton police reported that some trees were down, including one that fell on the parsonage at United Methodist Church and others that blocked traffic on state Highway 6 for several hours.
Nettleton Elementary, Nettleton Junior High and Nettleton High School each lost power until about 8 a.m.. They began classes at that time, 20 minutes later than normal.
They also lost several Bradford Pear trees in front of Nettleton Junior High. Several skids and pallets being used for a reroofing job were strewn throughout the campus.
Tupelo schools reported that the storm created electrical problems with the phone system, but Baldwyn and Lee County schools reported no damage or delays.
UPDATE: 5:58 p.m. - From Miss. State University - Severe weather is moving slowly out of the Starkville area to the east. Use caution as you resume normal activities.
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UPDATE: 5:51 p.m. - Strong storms move through Starkville. Hail failing in Tupelo.
Tornado warning continues for Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha Counties until 6:15 p.m.
UPDATE: 1:57 pm. - Reports of trees down and damage in Lee County and other parts of Northeast Mississippi. No injuries have been reported.
UPDATE: 8:36 a.m. - A home on Ridgeway Drive in Tupelo was struck by lightening. Tupelo firefighters put out a small blaze.
UPDATE: Several reports of power outages and property damage. More as we can confirm.
Smithville schools in Monroe County are on a two hour delay this morning due to the weather.
National Weather Service forecast ...
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Wednesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northeast wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Click here for special weather statement.
Click here for the NEMS360.com Weather page.