hello and welcome to bbc news. the governor of mississippi has declared a state of emergency after tornadoes ripped through the us state. at least 25 people were killed. the authorities say the storm left a trail of damage for more than 150 kilometres. president biden has called the storms heartbreaking and vowed federal support. one of the worst affected towns is rolling fork, where entire neighborhoods were flattened to rubble. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. this is all that remains of the mississippi town of rolling fork. heavy vehicles were picked up and tossed around like toys after the twister touched down, all but wiping this tight knit community off the map. we ve got a new scan coming on as we speak. the storm struck at night, the warnings too late for the residents of rolling fork and nearby silver city. sighs. oh, man. sighs. dearjesus, please help them. around 8:20, we have the tornado sirens going off, warning people to, you know, take co
a tornado has killed at least 23 people in the us state of mississippi, which is located here, in the south of the country. the authorities said the twister left a trail of damage for more than 150 kilometres. one of the worst affected towns is rolling fork, where trees and power lines have been torn down. at one point, debris was being pulled more than 6000 metres into the sky. you can see here the latest pictures of the destruction in rolling fork. debris everywhere, cars on top of what used to be buildings. complete and utter devastation. lots and lots of torn down buildings. as the rescue operation takes place as people start to think about the cleaning operation, many people there will have lost their homes, their livelihoods. and we understand there are some survivors that police and rescue services are still looking for. president biden has called the mississippi storms heartbreaking and vowed federal support. here s our north america correspondent, david willis. doz
so is the weather, has it calmed down? is it helping that? yeah. the weather is calm certainly now. today, it is a little bit windy. just a classic post frontal environment. a lot of times after these supercells move through on the back side of the outbreaks, you have crystal clear skies like this. it s very dry. sometimes, it s cold as well afterwards. so, definitely the conditions are good for the recovery effort but it s just beginning right now. you see people that are just sitting in the rubble, not really sure what to do, checking on loved ones. cell phone coverage is down there. i m actually just south of the damage path near the vicksburg area, and about to head back and survey that damage path to see if it was one continuous tornado, a super cell that s moving at 60 miles an hour like that doesn t really have time to cycle through tornadoes. so, you get these really long track classic dixie alley
a lot of times after these supercells move through on the back side of the outbreaks, you have crystal clear skies like this. it s very dry. sometimes it s cold as well afterwards. so, definitely the conditions are good for the recovery effort, but it s just beginning right now. you see people that are just sitting in the rubble, not really sure what to do, checking on loved ones. cell phone coverage is down there. i m actuallyjust south of the damage path near the vicksburg area, and about to head back and survey that damage path to see if it was one continuous tornado, a super cell that s moving at 60 miles an hour like that doesn t really have time to cycle through tornadoes. so, you get these really long track classic dixie alley tornado outbreaks, fast moving tornadoes. they continue through the night, and there s a lot of mobile homes as well out here in the mid south. and so it s just the worst case scenario. and yesterday, there were people in their vehicles in town. there were
area. shreveport is calming down a bit. this is going to sweep off through the east throughout the rest of the evening, eventually the overnight hours. take you in on a couple of the cells that have been particularly powerful. this is a tornadic storm uplifting towards the mississippi area and these are moving that direction. all of these red areas, the spots we re looking at tornadoes were in cells. popping up better if i drop off actual rainfall totals, everything in the yellow color or the orangish color that is severe thunderstorm which means winds up to 60 miles an hour, still means hail. the initial line that will track off towards the east that will bring the most powerful storms in the overnight hours. right in the heart of louisiana, we see it stretching into mississippi, that s what we ll be looking at the next couple of hurrs. you see the heart of this, stretching across central louisiana putting it into