‘Devastating’ Moss Point tornado destruction worse than Hurricane Katrina, residents say

Dorine Watson Lynn was in her father’s den when the warning came across the TV: “A tornado warning is in effect for your area. Take cover now.”

Lynn, 60, jumped up and gathered everyone inside the home on East Bayou Avenue.

“It got so dark, so I told everybody, ‘Hit the floor, because that tornado is coming,’” Lynn told the Sun Herald on Monday afternoon.

Lynn was right.

Just before 3 p.m., the tornado ripped through, taking Ernest Watson’s roof and busting all of his windows. Inside the home, his daughter and others screamed.

“Everything just went flying every which way,” Lynn said. “We were scared, we was hollering because we thought we was fixing to go.”

Lynn’s family was one of many who had to take cover in Moss Point as the twister tore down Main Street, taking roofs and power lines with it, uprooting vehicles and pushing water over the roads.

For many in Moss Point, the damage left behind was worse for their neighborhoods than when Hurricane Katrina ravaged South Mississippi in 2005.

“This is just catastrophic, we’ve never seen anything like this in this area,” said Charles Davison, an electrical engineer who has lived in Moss Point his whole life. “This is devastating.”

While Davison’s home remained in tact Monday, neighbors lost their roofs and had trees go through their homes, the 60-year-old told the Sun Herald.

Down at Burnham’s drugs, Adelia Ludlow saw the tornado spin down Main Street.

“I was standing right in that (front) door and you can hear the tornado,” she said. “We all kind of took cover.”

The beloved drug store was mostly spared, but the Sonic Drive-In down the street wasn’t as lucky.

LaKenya Sullivan, general manager of the Moss Point restaurant, said workers were taking a break in their car when the wind started to pick up.

“We looked (outside) again, and everything was flying,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan and other managers quickly helped workers get inside and one employee’s sister was picked up by the wind and slammed into a pole. They were also able to get her inside safely, and she was not badly hurt.

“We had the doors locked because they were blowing, blowing, blowing everywhere,” Sullivan said.

The tornado took most of Sonic’s roof, and the car wash nearby also received heavy damage.

Back on East Bayou Street, Lynn learned her home was OK, and she planned to take her 95-year-old father to stay with her after the tornado destroyed his home. Ernest Watson does not have insurance, she said.

Moss Point Mayor Bill Knight and other officials in Jackson County are out surveying the damage. The mayor said he’ll likely declare a state of emergency on Tuesday.

A power transformer was blown and mangled power lines sit on roadways. Thousands were without power in Jackson County on Monday.

Davison could only be positive as he thought about what’s next for his city as many will begin to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

“Our community is resilient, we’ll do what we have to do build back,” he said. “We’re still blessed that we’re all here, regardless of what we may have lost.”