Ark., Miss. Tornadoes Leave Thousands Without Power
By: NBC News Wire
Updated: October 18, 2012
NBC NEWS -- Thousands were left without power after a blustery storm system swept through Arkansas and Mississippi on Wednesday night, with initial reports saying it spawned at least five tornadoes.
Five people near Anguilla, Miss., were injured after their mobile home was completely destroyed, NBC station WLBT in Jackson, Miss., reported. A mother and her four children were inside the home, one child having received what appeared to be serious injuries, Sheriff Lindsey Adams told WLBT. The family was taken to a local hospital.
Not far from the scene, another mobile home was blown off its foundation and into a field. A woman was found inside and taken to a hospital with numerous injuries, WLBT reported.
In Conehatta, Miss., the National Weather Service reported that dozens of trees and power lines had been brought down, along with structural damage.
According to power company Entergy, 12,592 customers were without power in Mississippi and 1,981 in Arkansas.
Earlier, severe weather in eastern Arkansas had damaged a building in Clarendon, leaving parts of the building strewn in the street and many power lines and trees felled, according to the National Weather Service.
In Tennessee, dozens of families were evacuated from their mobile homes in Millington, north of Memphis, as storms swept through the area, NBC station WMC-TV reported. Six or seven of the mobile homes reportedly were damaged.
Eric Millington, a resident at Westside Mobile Home Park, said he rode out the storm inside his home with his three-year-old son.
"It sliced it open like a can, you can see the sky when you go in my kitchen," Millington said. " It was rough."
National Weather Service teams on Thursday planned to survey the areas to determine whether five tornadoes did indeed touch down. Two were reported in Arkansas and three in Mississippi.
In Louisiana, trees were downed in at least two parishes.
Weather Channel meteorologists said the storm system would continue to lumber eastward, exiting the northeast later Saturday, but that conditions Thursday were not as favorable for twisters.
Five people near Anguilla, Miss., were injured after their mobile home was completely destroyed, NBC station WLBT in Jackson, Miss., reported. A mother and her four children were inside the home, one child having received what appeared to be serious injuries, Sheriff Lindsey Adams told WLBT. The family was taken to a local hospital.
Not far from the scene, another mobile home was blown off its foundation and into a field. A woman was found inside and taken to a hospital with numerous injuries, WLBT reported.
In Conehatta, Miss., the National Weather Service reported that dozens of trees and power lines had been brought down, along with structural damage.
According to power company Entergy, 12,592 customers were without power in Mississippi and 1,981 in Arkansas.
Earlier, severe weather in eastern Arkansas had damaged a building in Clarendon, leaving parts of the building strewn in the street and many power lines and trees felled, according to the National Weather Service.
In Tennessee, dozens of families were evacuated from their mobile homes in Millington, north of Memphis, as storms swept through the area, NBC station WMC-TV reported. Six or seven of the mobile homes reportedly were damaged.
Eric Millington, a resident at Westside Mobile Home Park, said he rode out the storm inside his home with his three-year-old son.
"It sliced it open like a can, you can see the sky when you go in my kitchen," Millington said. " It was rough."
National Weather Service teams on Thursday planned to survey the areas to determine whether five tornadoes did indeed touch down. Two were reported in Arkansas and three in Mississippi.
In Louisiana, trees were downed in at least two parishes.
Weather Channel meteorologists said the storm system would continue to lumber eastward, exiting the northeast later Saturday, but that conditions Thursday were not as favorable for twisters.
