Tornado strikes Piave area
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Tornado damage resembles a clear cut in this stand of pine timber struck by a tornado near Sand Hill on Monday.
No injuries, but homes and timber sustain damage
From Staff Reports
A tornado touched down near Sand Hill early Monday evening, causing damage to multiple homes and timber in the area.
Greene County Emergency Management Director Trent Robertson and a representative with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) were on site with representatives from the National Weather Service office in Mobile on Tuesday and confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down along Piave Church Road (between Miss. 63 and Union Road). The storm, which NWS officials estimated as having winds between 105-110 MPH, caused damage to homes and timber. Robertson reported that porches were ripped from a couple of residences with others receiving damage to roofing and exterior structures. There was also significant damage to timber in the area as the tornado cut a swath approximately 200 yards wide for a short distance.
The storm crossed over Piave Church Road at approximately 6 p.m. Monday. No injuries were reported to residents or livestock.
“We were very fortunate that the damage was not more severe to the homes and that none of our residents were seriously injured,” Robertson told the Herald while surveying the damage Tuesday morning.
The tornado was part of an intense weather system that rolled across Mississippi and other southeastern states on Monday. In eastern Mississippi, officials in Starkville said the water at Oktibbeha County Lake had once again reached a critical level just weeks after heavy rains caused a mudslide that put the earthen dam in danger of failing.
Pumps had been used to lower the lake level by about eight feet since mid-January, but officials said the water had risen to an even higher than before because of recent storms.
“It has risen over 8.5 feet from our low elevation during pumping and continues to rise,” said a statement by Kristen Campanella, emergency management director in Oktibbeha County.
Officials also were monitoring the site of a potential dam failure in Yazoo County, where the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said a 40-acre lake in a subdivision was leaking around a culvert and washing away dirt, threatening four homes and a church. Five homes were evacuated after a levee breach in Leake County.
Elsewhere in Mississippi, 25 homes had been damaged and four people were hurt in wrecks caused by vehicles hydroplaning on wet roads, according to the state. The damage was worst in Yazoo, where a dozen people were displaced from homes.
Both Greene County rivers are currently above flood stage, but no major flooding is expected in the near future. The Chickasawhay River crested at 25.2 feet at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Leakesville. The Chickasawhay is expected to fall slowly over the next several days, but stay above 24 feet through the weekend. The Leaf River crested at McLain at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday at 21.67 feet. The Leaf is also projected to fall slowly, but remain above 21 feet at McLain through the weekend. More heavy rains north of Greene County could impact those forecasts.
