Severe Weather of January 5, 2007

...SIX TORNADOES CONFIRMED IN EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAM WORKED CLOSELY WITH EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AND AMERICAN RED CROSS OFFICIALS TODAY IN CONDUCTING
DAMAGE SURVEYS OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI. A TOTAL OF FOUR
TORNADOES THAT OCCURRED EARLY THIS MORNING WERE CONFIRMED IN THIS
AREA.

...TORNADO 1...NEWTON AND NESHOBA COUNTIES...

BEGINNING POINT: 1 SW PROSPECT AT ABOUT 1:00 AM
ENDING POINT: 6 WSW NESHOBA
PATH LENGTH: 4.5 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 300 YARDS
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F1
CASUALTIES: NONE REPORTED

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: AT LEAST EIGHT CHICKEN HOUSES WERE DESTROYED.
NUMEROUS TREES, BOTH PINES AND HARDWOODS, WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED.
THREE HOMES SUFFERED DAMAGE, INCLUDING ONE HOME WHICH HAD ABOUT HALF
OF ITS ROOF TAKEN OFF AND BLOWN SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET AWAY.

...TORNADO 2...NESHOBA COUNTY...

BEGINNING POINT: 5.5 W NESHOBA AT ABOUT 1:15 AM
ENDING POINT: 3.5 NW NESHOBA
PATH LENGTH: 3 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 400 YARDS
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F1
CASUALTIES: NONE REPORTED

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. TWO
HOMES SUSTAINED DAMAGE, INCLUDING ROOF AND WALL DAMAGE. A NUMBER OF
OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

...TORNADO 3...NESHOBA COUNTY...

BEGINNING POINT: 2 NE TUCKER AT ABOUT 1:25 AM
ENDING POINT: 3 NE TUCKER
PATH LENGTH: 1.2 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 150 YARDS
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F2
CASUALTIES: NONE REPORTED

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: A BRICK HOME SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE AS IT HAD ITS
ENTIRE ROOF STRUCTURE TOTALLY REMOVED. A LARGE OUTBUILDING WAS
DESTROYED. A TRACTOR WAS PICKED UP AND ROLLED. NUMEROUS TREES
SNAPPED, DOWNED AND UPROOTED.

...TORNADO 4...KEMPER COUNTY...

BEGINNING POINT: 1 WSW BLACKWATER AT ABOUT 1:40 AM
ENDING POINT: 2 NNW BLACKWATER
PATH LENGTH: 2 MILES
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH: 250 YD
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F2
CASUALTIES: NO FATALITIES, 9 INJURIES, 3 SERIOUS INJURIES

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: 6 HOMES WERE DESTROYED. 5 OF THE HOMES WERE
MOBILE HOMES AND 1 WAS A MODULAR HOME. THE MOBILE HOMES WERE
STRAPPED DOWN. A CAR WAS FLIPPED OVER AND ROLLED, AND THERE WAS A
PATH OF EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OF THESE FINDINGS ARE PRELIMINARY BASED ON
INITIAL SURVEYS. ADDITIONAL SURVEYS WILL BE CONDUCTED OVER THE
WEEKEND OR EARLY NEXT WEEK WHICH MAY CAUSE REVISION TO SOME OF THESE
FINDINGS, AND WHICH WILL LIKELY FIND ADDITIONAL TORNADO TRACKS.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO OFFER ITS SINCERE THANKS
TO THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTORS IN KEMPER, NESHOBA, AND NEWTON
COUNTIES, AS WELL AS PERSONNEL FROM THE MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS, FOR THEIR INVALUABLE
ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING TODAY`S DAMAGE SURVEYS.

...TORNADO 5...NOXUBEE COUNTY...

BEGINNING POINT: 5.5 WNW SHUQUALAK AT APPROXIMATELY 2:05 AM
ENDING POINT: 4 NW SHUQUALAK
PATH LENGTH: 3.7 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 300 YARDS
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F1
CASUALTIES: NONE

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: DAMAGE WAS MAINLY CONFINED TO A TORNADIC PATH OF
TREE DAMAGE, INCLUDING NUMEROUS LARGE TREES BEING SNAPPED AND
UPROOTED. HOWEVER, ONE HOME WHICH WAS ALONG THE EDGE OF THE PATH OF
THE TORNADO DID SUFFER SOME MINOR DAMAGE, INCLUDING SOME MINOR ROOF
DAMAGE AND DAMAGE TO A CARPORT.

...DOWNBURST EVENT ACROSS NE NEWTON TO SW KEMPER COUNTY...

IN ADDITION...THE SURVEY TEAM ALSO INVESTIGATED DAMAGE IN NORTHEAST
NEWTON COUNTY ALONG PIERCE ROAD WHERE A TRAILER HOME HAD A LARGE
PART OF ITS ROOF RIPPED OFF, AND IN SOUTHWEST KEMPER COUNTY WHERE A
MOBILE HOME WAS TOTALLY DESTROYED AND THREE PEOPLE WERE INJURED NEAR
THE DAMASCUS COMMUNITY. BOTH OF THESE DAMAGE AREAS WERE DETERMINED
TO BE THE RESULT OF DOWNBURST STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. THE WIND
SPEED AT THE NEWTON COUNTY SITE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 75 MPH, WHILE
THE DAMAGE AT THE KEMPER COUNTY SITE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 90
AND 100 MPH.

...TORNADO 6...JONES COUNTY...

BEGINNING POINT: 2 SW SOSO AT APPROXIMATELY 12:27 AM
ENDING POINT: 1 SSW SOSO
PATH LENGTH: 1.2 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 100 YARDS
PRELIMINARY FUJITA RATING: F1
CASUALTIES: NONE

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. ONE
TREE FELL ON A CAR. A STORAGE BUILDING WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED.
A SINGLE WIDE TRAILER WAS PUSHED OFF THE BLOCKS BUT REMAINED
UPRIGHT. ROOF DAMAGE OCCURRED TO A DOUBLE WIDE TRAILER. THE DAMAGE
WAS ALL ESTIMATED TO BE IN THE 75 TO 100 MPH RANGE.

$$

AEG/CAW/JBX/SW/LM/DM

Below are images of damage that occurred in the Kemper County, F2 Tornado.

We would like to thank Kemper County Emergency Management for their assistance with this survey.

Below are images of damage that occurred in the Neshoba County, F2 Tornado, near Tucker.

Below are images of damage that occurred in the Newton/Neshoba Counties, F1 Tornado, near the Prospect and Dixon Communities.

We would like to thank Neshoba and Newton County Emergency Management for their assistance with this survey.

Below are images of damage that occurred in the Noxubee County, F1 tornado near Shuqualak.

Below are damage pictures from NE Newton and SW Kemper Counties where an intense downburst occurred.

Below are images of damage that occurred in the Jones County, F1 tornado near Soso.

Additional surveys will be conducted in the coming days and this page will be updated with more damage pictures, tornado track maps, and radar pictures as they become available.