State emergency officials said in a Facebook post that a fourth death was reported in Leflore County after severe winter weather swept across Mississippi, leaving widespread damage and power outages.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said counties continue damage assessments and have reported 92 homes, three businesses and seven farms damaged so far. The agency said those numbers are expected to rise as assessments continue over the coming days. About 143,700 outages were reported statewide, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation is clearing roads.
MEMA said it is filling requests from 37 counties for generators, tarps, Meals Ready-to-Eat, bottled water, cots, blankets and fuel. FEMA is delivering 11 truckloads of supplies to Mississippi and deploying a 90-person chainsaw team to North Mississippi. The American Red Cross is providing shelter support, and faith-based and volunteer groups including Pinelake Church and Convoy of Hope are assisting at warming centers. Private companies have also contributed supplies; Lowe’s filled a request for shovels and brooms, and the Mississippi Trucking Association helped find box trucks to move supplies.
The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce is collecting bottled water, nonperishable food, can openers, diapers and formula, propane cook stoves and bottles, and basic paper products for delivery to North Mississippi. Donations will be accepted at the Old Armory at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds Jan. 27-30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., MEMA said. Officials urged residents to stay home and off the roads when possible; ice was reported on roads and bridges in 37 counties as of 8:30 a.m. For information on shelters and how businesses can help, MEMA provided links to its Business Emergency Operations Center and a list of warming centers. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
