Severe weather causes damage in state

April 4, 2011

JACKSON (AP) — Severe weather in Mississippi on Monday knocked down the wall of a fire station, uprooted trees, severed powerlines and damaged some homes and other buildings.
Many parts of the state were under tornado warnings at some point in the day and the weather advisories remained in effect until early evening in central and south Mississippi.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Dan Byrd in Jackson said damaging winds and large hail accompanied the storm system.
A tornado warning was cancelled in DeSoto and Tunica counties at mid-day but remained in effect for other areas of north Mississippi later into later in the afternoon. Forecasters issued tornado warnings for central and south Mississippi until the evening.
In Tunica County, a severe thunderstorm uprooted trees, severed power lines and produced heavy rain from Dundee in the south to Robinsonville in the north county area, said Larry Liddell, a spokesman for Tunica County.
Liddell said the back wall of the North Tunica Fire Station was blown out by high winds, but there have been no official reports of a tornado touching down. No injuries were reported.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reported damages in Tunica and five other counties — DeSoto, Marshall, Quitman, Tate and Union. In DeSoto, Quitman and Union a few homes were damaged, but in other areas the damage is limited to agricultural buildings and trees.
Temperatures were not expected to drop too far after the cold front moves through. Temperatures should be in the 60s on Tuesday with lows in the 40s.
The warm weather should be back by Thursday, returning to the 70s.