Death toll reaches 26 after powerful tornado tears across Mississippi, rescue work underway

A powerful storm tore across Mississippi late on Friday, killing at least 25 people there and one person in Alabama. It levelled hundreds of buildings and spawned at least one devastating tornado. Rescuers have been combinng through rubble on Saturday.

According to Nicholas Price, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, Mississippi, the tornado stayed on the ground for about an hour and cut a path of destruction some 170 miles (274 km) long. 

In Rolling Fork, a town of around 1,900 in western Mississippi that was hit the hardest, homes were reduced to rubble, tree trunks snapped like twigs and cars were tossed aside like toys.

Michael Searcy, a storm chaser who saw the tornado approach Rolling Fork, spent hours helping to rescue trapped people. Searcy told news agency Reuters: "As soon as we would go from one vehicle to the next vehicle or from building to building, we could hear screams and we could hear cries for help. And we were just basically in small groups, digging through the rubble, trying to find and extricate people."

In Silver City, a rural community of around 300, residents described locking themselves in interior rooms and cowering inside bathtubs as the tornado swept through. 

Governor Tate Reeves, who visited Silver City on Saturday, declared a state of emergency in the affected areas. He wrote on Twitter: "The scale of the damage and loss is evident everywhere affected today. Homes, businesses ... entire communities." 

The Morgan County Sheriff's Office stated that in Alabama, which was also struck by the same storm system, rescuers pulled a man from the mud when his trailer was overturned, but the man later died from his injuries. That appeared to be the only reported death in that state as of Saturday evening. 

US President Joe Biden described the images from Mississippi as "heartbreaking" and said in a statement that he had spoken with Reeves and offered his condolences and full federal support for the recovery. 

Biden said, "To those impacted by these devastating storms, and to the first responders and emergency personnel working to help their fellow Americans, we will do everything we can to help. We will be there as long as it takes. We will work together to deliver the support you need to recover." 

Mississippi officials set up three emergency shelters, including at the National Guard Armory in Rolling Fork. About 26,000 customers remained without power as of Saturday evening in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee due to the storm, according to the website PowerOutage.us. 

Mississippi's emergency management agency said on Saturday afternoon that the death toll had risen to 25, with dozens more injured. The agency said that four people who had been reported missing earlier have been located.