How strong was tornado that struck MS Coast? Here’s the path, wind speed & damage report
A storm system that beat through the Mississippi Coast on Wednesday created a 110 mph tornado that cut a four-mile path through Harrison County, the National Weather Service confirmed Thursday.
The tornado, which the NWS classified as EF1, first touched down at 10:30 a.m. near Cleveland Ladner Road and River Road northeast of Diamondhead. It barreled 4.08 miles until it lifted just after Moran Road near Lyman at 10:36, according to a damage report.
It’s peak wind strength was 110 mph, the report said. It was 265 yards wide at its largest point and stayed on the ground for six minutes.
The tornado tore metal roofing from a few mobile homes near Cleveland Ladner and River roads, the report said. It snapped trees, crossed the Wolf River and ripped the roof from another mobile home near Cemetery Road before moving northeast to cross Moran Road.
There, it rolled a mobile home and tore the bottom of the home from the rest of the building, the report said. The home had hurricane straps and bolts on the ground.
The storm snapped a few more trees, then lifted from the area, according to the report.
The storm damaged at least six homes in Harrison County, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said, though it stressed the numbers were still preliminary and could change.
The National Weather Service was still surveying the area of another possible tornado in Hancock County Thursday afternoon. The agency has visited the area around the Stennis Space Center near Kiln and said it found signs of strong wind damage, which it called “possibly tornadic.”
The final confirmation for Hancock County was not available Thursday because the damage also extends west into Louisiana, the NWS said. The agency said it will study satellite data and initial radar analysis but did not say when that determination would come.
