The emergency aid consists of financial support and the sending of goods that are needed. People can receive money to pay for temporary accommodation or to have their damaged house repaired.
In some villages entire residential blocks have been destroyed by the weather. Severe thunderstorms moved across the state of Mississippi starting Friday evening. Buildings were destroyed and power was lost in many places, while hailstones the size of golf balls fell from the sky. Some residents were trapped in the rubble.
Most of the deaths occurred in the village of Rolling Fork, more than a hundred miles northwest of Mississippi’s capital Jackson. In Rolling Fork, “almost everything has been wiped out,” a resident told AFP news agency. Houses have been reduced to rubble, trees have been blown over and the damage is extensive. “My city is gone,” Mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN. “Destruction is all I see. The community is now in a situation we never expected.”
Governor Tate Reeves, who visited Silver City, has declared a state of emergency in the area affected by the tornado. According to the governor, additional medical support is needed. More emergency services are on the road and an active search was continued on Saturday for people in the affected areas. President Biden calls the situation heartbreaking. “We are doing everything we can to help.”
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