The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) continues to coordinate recovery efforts following severe storms and tornadoes that struck on March 14 and 15, 2025. A recent update confirms an additional fatality in Walthall County, increasing the statewide death toll to seven.
Preliminary damage assessments indicate widespread impacts across the state. MEMA has recorded damage to 715 homes, 29 businesses, and 16 farms. These numbers are expected to rise as further assessments are conducted. Power restoration efforts are progressing, with 1,369 outages reported statewide as of Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service confirmed that 17 tornadoes touched down during the storms in Mississippi, with the strongest being an EF-4 tornado that traveled 65.2 miles across Pike, Walthall, Marion, Jefferson Davis, and Covington counties. This tornado reached maximum wind speeds of 170 mph and originated in Louisiana.
Shelters are operational in Grenada and Smith counties to assist storm survivors:
- Grenada City Auditorium, 17 N Main St, Grenada, MS
- Taylorsville Attendance Center Gymnasium, 324 Hester St., Taylorsville, MS
MEMA has supplied counties with over 1,000 tarps and 18,000 bottles of water. Volunteers are urged to coordinate with recognized disaster relief organizations rather than self-deploying. Donation drop-off locations are currently available in Walthall and Grenada counties. You can find the locations, contact information, and current needs on the MEMA website here.
Official damage reports submitted by counties detail varying degrees of destruction, with Walthall County reporting significant losses, including 182 homes, 1 business, 6 farms damaged, and 4 deaths.
Citizens with immediate needs are advised to contact their local county emergency management agencies for assistance, a list of those agencies can be found here
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