How Friday's deadly Mississippi tornado compares to tragic storms in MS history

Wicker Perlis, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·3 min read
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While the damage and death toll is still being assessed by first responders, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed early Saturday morning that at least 23 people were killed in tornados that swept across the state Friday night.

By Saturday evening, that total had climbed to 25, making Friday's storm at least the deadliest tornado to hit Mississippi in more than 50 years.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast has also been hit by a number of deadly and costly hurricanes over the years, from the storm of 1947 to Hurricane Katrina.

Here is a list of some of the deadliest recorded storms to hit Mississippi.

Mississippi Delta Outbreak of 1971

Mississippi was hit by three F4 tornadoes on Feb. 21, 1971, resulting in a combined loss of 117 lives.

Storms touched down in Issaquena, Grenada, Sunflower, Warren and Holmes counties, as part of a wider system that saw tornados stretch from Texas to North Carolina over a two-day span. Though it stretched across thousands of miles and produced at least 19 separate storms, the 1971 tornado outbreak became collectively known as the Mississippi Delta outbreak. Of the 123 total lives lost, 117 were in Mississippi.

Across the nation, the outbreak caused $45.901 million in damages, equivalent to about $307 million when adjusted for inflation. More than 1,500 people were injured.

Candlestick Park Tornado of 1966

On March 3, 1966, an F5 tornado touched the ground in Jackson, MS, leveling the recently constructed Candlestick Park shopping center.

The outbreak, which lasted more than 17 hours and eventually moved into Alabama, killed 58 people in Mississippi. Hinds and Kemper counties were particularly devastated. An astounding 518 people were injured, and damages totaled $75.552 million, or about $631 million when adjusted for inflation.

In this 2005 photo, Larry Swales stands with Pauline Pace, Pace's daughter Pam Pittman and Donna Durr (right), at historic Candlestick Park in south Jackson as they marked the 40th anniversary of a tornado that ripped through the shopping center. Swales (left), was working at Liberty Supermarket when the twister leveled the business. Pace was in the laundromat while her daughter Pam, who was 10 at the time, had run to the Dog-N-Suds across the parking lot to pick up food when the tornado hit. Both were buried under debris. Durr and her young son, traveling in a VW Bug were lifted 75 feet into the air and then gently placed on top of what was left of the shopping center.

Vicksburg Tornado of 1953

When an F5 tornado touched the ground in Vicksburg on Dec. 5, 1953, it resulted in the deaths of 38 people, along with significant damage and injuries.

Injuries reached a total of nearly 300, while damage totals reached $25 million, or $209 million when adjusted for inflation.

The front page of the Vicksburg Evening Post's Sunday Post-Herald edition chronicling the tornado that hit the day before. The Vicksburg Post later won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting.
The front page of the Vicksburg Evening Post's Sunday Post-Herald edition chronicling the tornado that hit the day before. The Vicksburg Post later won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting.

Hazlehurst Tornadoes of 1969

On Jan. 23, 1969, an F4 tornado struck Jefferson and Newton counties, killing 32 people and injuring 241. The storm also impacted Copiah, Rankin, Simpson, Smith and Scott counties. There were also tornadoes in Kentucky and Tennessee related to the same system.

A tornado tore through the city of Hazlehurst in 1969.
A tornado tore through the city of Hazlehurst in 1969.

2011 Super Outbreak

During the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded, with storms ranging from Texas to New York to Southern Canada, some of the worst damage came in Mississippi.

Of the more than 175 tornadoes observed during the outbreak, Mississippi saw an F5 hit Monroe, Itawamba and Marion counties, while an F4 hit Smith and Perry counties. Philadelphia, MS also saw significant damage. The combined death toll reached 30 in Mississippi, and nationwide the outbreak caused 324 fatalities and more than $10 billion in damages.

Hurricane Katrina

While Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005 near Buras, Louisiana, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was still largely devastated by the storm.

Nationwide, between 1,245 and 1,836 people died as a result of the storm. The death toll in Mississippi reached 238, with significant wind and storm surge damage. In Mississippi alone, damages were estimated to have reached $30 billion.

Men pick through rubble as a boat sits several hundred yards from the beach in the historic downtown district of Biloxi on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005. Storm surge from Hurricane Katrina destroyed many of the old buildings in the area.
Men pick through rubble as a boat sits several hundred yards from the beach in the historic downtown district of Biloxi on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005. Storm surge from Hurricane Katrina destroyed many of the old buildings in the area.

Hurricane Camille

Hurricane Camille made landfall at Bay St. Louis as a Category 5 storm just before midnight on August 17, 1969. Camille decimated the Gulf Coast, and its remnants continued to have deadly impacts as far north as Virginia.

The total death toll of the storm sat at 259, while damages reached $1.42 billion, or more than $12 billion when adjusted for inflation. In Mississippi alone, damages were estimated at $950 million, or more than $7.7 billion when adjusted.

1947 Storm

Coming before hurricanes were formally named or categorized, estimates consider the storm that hit South Florida and then the Gulf Coast in 1947 to have been a Category 4. It resulted in 51 direct fatalities, including 22 in Mississippi, along with $110 million in damage, or nearly $1.5 billion in today's dollars.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi tornado: How devastating storm path compares to MS' worst