NWS: Monday’s severe weather in Copiah Co. confirmed EF2 tornado

Published 3:47 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A mobile home was destroyed on Jackson-Liberty Road.

A mobile home was destroyed on Jackson-Liberty Road.

The National Weather Service in Jackson confirmed three tornadoes hit several counties in Mississippi on Monday.

Copiah County was hit by an EF2 tornado with 130 mph peak winds, the NWS confirmed on Tuesday. The tornado had a path length of 30.8 miles and path width of 250 yards.

The strongest damage the NWS Jackson storm survey crews found by Tuesday afternoon was in the Stronghope community, where a house was destroyed.

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Copiah County Emergency Coordinator Randall Drane said Tuesday afternoon that most of the Stronghope community was without power. They are hoping it is restored Wednesday.

Drane said there were 15 single-family homes affected in Copiah County. Eight suffered minimal damage and four experienced major damage. Six homes were destroyed.

Four mobile homes were destroyed, and two more suffered minimum damage. Wesson Attendance Center suffered minor damage, as did one business.

Drane said as of Tuesday afternoon all roads are open and though the county was strongly affected by the severe weather, there were no injuries reported.

“It was just one of those things you can’t predict and it just throws down on you,” Drane said. “Luckily we had no injuries. Fortunately we have the volunteers we have, as well as the citizens and volunteer organizations that are more than willing to come out and assist during these times of disaster.”

There were minor injuries reported after people were reportedly thrown from a mobile home on the Copiah and Lincoln County line that was destroyed. The mobile home, located at 3779 Jackson-Liberty Road, served as a daycare run by Ashley and Ryan Terry. Ashley said they were inside with three children when it was blown over.

The children had some bruises and minor injuries, Ashley said. The National Weather Service confirmed the reports of minor injuries. There were also reports of damage on Old Red Star Road.