Deadly Tornadoes Hit Southern U.S

The deadliest tornado outbreak in the history of the state happened February 21 and 22, 1971. It struck the lower portions of the rural portions of lower Mississippi River Valley and the Southeastern United States.

"This tornado was enormous," said Gov. Haley Barbour to AP. The governor described "utter obliteration" among the picturesque hills rising from the flat Mississippi Delta.

The deadly disasters left 338 families homeless, in which 100 of them are from Yazoo County, 38 from Choctaw and nearly 200 from Attala, Holmes, Monroe and Warren Counties, as Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials are still working to assess the total damages.

Tornadoes were also reported in neighboring states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama, and the severe weather continued to track northeastward early today as gusty winds also downed trees crossing northwest Georgia.

Hundreds of residents of Northeastern Louisiana and East-Central Mississippi might remain in the dark as power is expected to be restored not earlier than mid next week.

Up to 30 tornadoes swept across the state beginning afternoon of Saturday, with the largest more than one kilometer wide packing winds that topped 260kph. It began in Mississippi's neighbor Louisiana, then moved east, hitting nearby Yazoo County.

The destruction and fatalities could have been more, if not for the preparedness of the affected residents of the southern states, which they have learned from the past devastation of Hurricane Katrina.