Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has issued a state of emergency following a string of severe storms that have caused at least six deaths in the Magnolia State. Governor Reeves in a social media post on Saturday evening said “tragically, as of now, 6 deaths have been reported – one in Coving ton County, two in Jeff Davis County, and three in Walthall County.” Reeves went on to acknowledge a number of injuries and reports of missing persons. “Also, as of now, three additional people are currently missing – two from Covington County and one from Walthall County. Preliminary reports indicate 29 injuries statewide – 15 in Covington County, two in Jeff Davis County, two in Pike County and 10 in Walthall County.” My promised update on the severe storms, tornadoes and earthquake – based on the most recent information that we have – that impacted Mississippi over the last 24 hours.First, I signed a State of Emergency tonight that allows us to further mobilize state assets and better… pic.twitter.com/TDDjZzhGfk— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 16, 2025 Two separate likely tornadoes hit Walthall County on Saturday afternoon, killing three people near Darbun along Bethlehem Loop Road, according to the county’s Emergency Management Director Royce McKee. Walthall County Sheriff Kyle Breland told WLBT there are also injuries, collapsed homes, and trees blocking roadways in the county. The National Weather Service in Jackson on Saturday afternoon had issued a tornado emergency for two separate tornadoes that moved through Walthall County. That rare official designation of a “large and dangerous tornado” continued into Marion, Lawrence and Jefferson Davis counties. Numerous other tornado warnings were issued before storms cleared out of the state by Saturday late afternoon. Before sunrise early Saturday morning, a likely tornado ripped through the Elliott community in Grenada County, destroying several homes and damaging other buildings. No fatalities were reported in that storm. “All of a sudden, it got like a freight train,” Robert Holman told FOX Weather of the Elliott storm. “Then all of a sudden, we just heard stuff just falling all on the house.” The storms knocked out power to about 25,000 people across the state. Though Mississippi was in the Saturday bullseye for the tornado outbreak, the same storm system affected much of the U.S. over the weekend. The number of fatalities increased after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved. Missouri recorded more fatalities than any other state as it withstood scattered twisters overnight that killed at least 12 people, authorities said. The deaths included a man who was killed after a tornado ripped apart his home. “It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field,” said Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, describing the scene that confronted rescuers. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.” Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing people trapped in their homes Friday night found five dead bodies scattered in the debris outside what remained of his aunt’s house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri. “It was a very rough deal last night,” he said Saturday, surrounded by uprooted trees and splintered homes. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.” Henderson said they rescued his aunt from a bedroom that was the only room left standing in her house, taking her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had a broken arm and leg. Officials in Arkansas said three people died in Independence County and 29 others were injured across eight counties as storms passed through the state. “We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X. She and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared states of emergency. Kemp said he was making the declaration in anticipation of severe weather moving in later Saturday. On Friday, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. Tornadoes hit amid storm outbreak The Storm Prediction Center said fast-moving storms could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs on Saturday, but the greatest threat would come from winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 100 miles per hour possible. Significant tornadoes continued to hit Saturday. The regions at highest risk stretch from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle, the center said. Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched a massive tornado from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, about half a mile (0.8 km) away as it struck an area near Paradise Ranch RV Park. They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed help and recorded a video depicting snapped trees, leveled buildings and overturned vehicles. “The amount of damage was catastrophic,” Dillon said. “It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over — everything was destroyed.” Paradise Ranch reported on Facebook that all its staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage extended beyond the ranch itself. “Homes and everything were destroyed all around it,” she said. “Schools and buildings are just completely gone.” Some of the imagery from the extreme weather has gone viral. Tad Peters and his dad, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists flee the interstate to park. “Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it’s here. It’s here,” Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. “Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn …” His father then rolled up the truck window. The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to turn around and head back home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away, where they encountered wildfires. Wildfires elsewhere in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds in Texas, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico. A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from less than a square mile (about 2 square kilometers) to an estimated 32.8 square miles (85 square kilometers), the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening. About 60 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, another fire grew to about 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometers) before its advance was halted in the afternoon. High winds also knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, according the website poweroutage.us. Extreme weather encompasses a zone of 100 million people The deaths came as a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires. Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south. The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible. Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected to cause whiteout conditions. Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. Nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference that some 266 square miles (689 square kilometers) had burned in his state. The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers. Experts said it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March. Mississippi Today editors contributed to this Associated Press report. Bruce Shipkowski reported from Toms River, New Jersey. Julie Walker reported from New York. Rebecca Reynolds contributed from Louisville, Kentucky. Jeff Roberson in Wayne County, Missouri, Eugene Johnson in Seattle and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed. The post Mississippi governor: Severe storms kill six, three missing appeared first on Mississippi Today. ...read more read less