Sirens Weren`t Used Before Mississippi Tornado
WARREN COUNTY, Miss. --
The tornado sirens weren’t sounded in Warren County before an EF3 tornado that struck, destroying eight homes and damaging 18 in the Eagle Lake area, an emergency official said.
Gwen Coleman, the head of the Warren County Emergency Operations Center said she made it to the EOC office just as the tornado struck and didn’t have time to activate the sirens manually.
"For me, just looking at the situation, I didn't see the storm that came through," Coleman said when asked why she didn't arrive at the office earlier.
Coleman said even if she had sounded the sirens, the residents in the Eagle Lake area wouldn’t have heard it because the nearest tornado siren is four miles away.
"The sirens didn't go off. If it wasn't for the news, I wouldn't have known," resident Cyndi Booth said.
Warren County doesn’t have the money available to put up a new tornado siren that would reach the Eagle Lake area, but Coleman said officials are working on a grant to purchase weather radios and distribute them to residents.
Eagle Lake tornado damage
The sirens did sound in Yazoo County, where the tornado, an EF4 at that point, destroyed 107 homes and damaged another 161 homes, officials said. On Thursday, emergency officials tested the county’s sirens and confirmed that they are operational. A storm front that is expected in the area Friday afternoon could produce heavy rain which is expected to continue through early next week, the Live Storm Shield 16 weather team says.
“Weather will be moving in and we want to make sure (the sirens) are working,” Yazoo City Mayor MacArthur Straughter said. “We want to make sure they are working, to let the community know we are still looking out for their safety."
When the tornado hit last Saturday, the sirens couldn’t be heard where one of the victims, Nikki Carpenter, lived on Judkins Road, which is southwest of Yazoo City, her family said. Carpenter, 31, was warned of the approaching tornado by a phone call. Her family said they believe she was shielding her three sons in the middle of the trailer, in the living room, when the tornado struck. The trailer was ripped to pieces and thrown 100 yards.
Nikki Carpenter's trailer was thrown 100 yards by the tornado that struck Yazoo County.
Carpenter’s children, Austin, 1, Ethan, 2, and Layne, 7, were flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Austin received staples to the back of his head, and Layne suffered a broken wrist. Both boys were treated and released from the hospital Sunday. Ethan underwent plastic surgery on his ear and was released from UMC on Tuesday. The Mississippi Department of Human Services granted temporary custody of the boys to their grandfather, James Bradshaw.
Carpenter’s funeral was Thursday.
In Holmes County, where one person was killed, 61 homes destroyed and 46 more homes damaged, at least one siren didn’t work. Residents in Durant said they haven’t heard the tornado siren go off there in more than a year.
The tornado siren in Durant.
Durant officials said they applied for a grant to replace the rusted, old siren, but the grant request was rejected.
"Something should be done about it because it could save lives," Willie Cobbins, who has lived in Durant for more than 50 years, said of the broken tornado siren. "Every city or town should have one. You need to get some type of warning, don't you?"
Gyrone Granderson, of the Holmes County Emergency Operations Center, said residents should rely on a NOAA weather radio for alerts when severe weather threatens the area.
The tornado that hit Yazoo and Holmes counties was classified by the National Weather Service as an EF4 with winds up to 170 mph. The twister cut across the state killing 10 and destroying 152 homes and damaging or affecting another 579, state officials said.
