Recovery underway in tornado-hit Mississippi, 25 dead
Mississippi started clean-up operations on Sunday after a destructive tornado tore across the state, killing at least 25, shredding houses and largely wiping out the small town of Rolling Fork.Under warm spring sunshine, shocked rescue workers surveyed the damage with roofs blown away, buildings flattened and cars smashed together amid piles of debris.The weather system, mixed with thunderstorms and driving rain, left a trail of havoc across the southern state late Friday, slamming several towns.The National Weather Service gave the tornado a rating of a four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale, saying that it had cut a path of up to three quarters of a mile wide for 59 miles (95 kilometers).The American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork less than 24 hours after the storm struck the town, which is home to fewer than 2,000 people.An area was set up as an infirmary and boxes full of cereal bars and baby diapers were shuttled in to provide food and medical support for storm victims who had "lost everything," said John Brown, a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi.ย Anna Krisuta, 43, and her 16-year-old son Alvaro Llecha took shelter at the site, saying their house was "in pieces."Twenty-five people were killed and dozens more injured, according to Mississippi's emergency management agency.The severe weather also left a man dead in neighboring Alabama when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the sheriff's office in Morgan County said.- Emergency supplies -President Joe Biden ordered federal aid to Mississippi on Sunday to support recovery efforts.ย The funding will provide grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, the White House said in a statement.Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves thanked Biden on Twitter "for recognizing the scale of the damage in Mississippi and quickly approving our disaster declaration -- a critical step in disaster response."The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, said she was traveling to Mississippi on Sunday to "see first-hand the impacts that some of these communities have had.""They're still very much in life-saving, life-sustaining mode," she told ABC.She praised first responders, saying some "may have lost their homes themselves," and said FEMA had sent teams, with more on their way to "help plan for and start the recovery process."Electricity repairs were underway to restore power to the more than 6,000 customers still in the dark in Mississippi, along with nearly 10,000 in Alabama, monitor poweroutage.us reported.Volunteers poured in from surrounding towns, including Lauren Hoda, who traveled 70 miles from Vicksburg to help."When I woke up this morning, I wanted to cry for the people of this town because I don't think they had much time before (the tornado) came," she said.She spent Saturday night in Rolling Fork bringing donations of water, food, canned goods, diapers, wipes, medicine and toothpaste from collection points.Mississippi was girding for more turbulent weather Sunday, including damaging winds and hail, with the emergency management agency warning that "tornadoes cannot be ruled out."After separate storms in the region, two tigers were re-captured in Georgiaย when aย tornado damaged animal enclosures at the Wild Animal Safari, in Pine Mountain.Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon notoriously difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.In January, a series of damaging twisters, all on the same day, left several people dead in Alabama and Georgia.bur-sw/bgs
news.yahoo.comBill restricting electric car stores now law in Mississippi
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Tuesday restricting electric car manufacturers from selling vehicles in person unless they open franchised dealerships. Defying calls from some fellow Republicans in the Legislature to veto the measure, Reeves enacted into law House Bill 401, introduced by Republican Rep. Trey Lamar of Senatobia. The law will force electric car companies such as Tesla and Rivian to sell vehicles through franchises rather than company-owned stores, which is how they currently operate.
news.yahoo.comMississippi passes bill restricting electric car dealerships
The Mississippi Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill to restrict electric car manufacturers from opening new brick-and-mortar dealerships in the state unless they comply with the same laws traditional carmakers follow. On the Senate floor Thursday, the bill sparked an intraparty debate among GOP lawmakers. Proponents said the law would ensure all car manufacturers, regardless of their business model, play by the same rules.
news.yahoo.comMississippi GOP governor now backs longer Medicaid for moms
Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves did an abrupt about-face Sunday on an issue for which Democrats have been sharply criticizing him this election year, saying for the first time that he wants the state to allow a full year of Medicaid coverage to women after they give birth. Reeves said on social media that if the Republican-controlled state House and Senate send him a bill to allow a year of postpartum Medicaid coverage, โI will sign it into law.โ Reeves said he is willing to do so โas part of our new pro-life agenda."
news.yahoo.comMississippi Senate passes limit on transgender health care
The Republican-controlled Mississippi Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would ban gender-affirming care in the state for anyone younger than 18. House Bill 1125 will go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who is running for reelection and has indicated he will sign it into law. In 2021, Reeves signed a law to ban transgender athletes from competing in girlsโ or womenโs sports.
news.yahoo.comDoctor, GOP governor clash over private Medicaid discussion
Mississippiโs Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a private conversation that expanding Medicaid to people working low-wage jobs would be in the best interest of the state, but that he refuses to support the policy for political reasons, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi said Thursday. Dr. Dan Jones is a physician who led the University of Mississippi Medical Center before serving as chancellor of the university from 2009 to 2015. During a news conference organized by Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, Jones said that Reeves acknowledged in a private conversation with him in 2013 or 2014 that expanding Medicaid would benefit Mississippi's economy, and provide health care to more residents of a state bedeviled by poor health outcomes.
news.yahoo.comShock Mississippi poll has Elvis Presley cousin, a Democrat, within four points of upsetting GOP governor
A poll of registered Mississippi voters shows incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves narrowly leading Democratic challenger Brandon Presley by just four points in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
foxnews.com'Community is hurting,' mayor says after officer is killed
A police officer has been shot to death in the Mississippi Delta city where she grew up, and several other people were injured by gunfire. Greenville Police Department Detective Myiesha Stewart, 30, was killed Tuesday night as she and other officers responded to a call, according to Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell. โOur community is hurting,โ Greenville Mayor Mayor Errick D. Simmons said Wednesday outside City Hall, where he was joined by law enforcement officers.
news.yahoo.comNAACP says Jackson's water problems are civil rights issue
The NAACP on Tuesday accused Mississippi of discriminating against Black residents by denying badly needed federal funds for drinking water infrastructure in Jackson and instead diverting money to largely-white communities that needed it less.
Jackson's water system at the mercy of spending rhetoric
Years before people in Jackson were recently left without running water for several days, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves claimed to have helped block money to fund water system repairs in the capital city. The cityโs latest water troubles are far from its first, and they have stemmed from decaying infrastructure beyond one water treatment plant. As Reeves climbed Mississippi's political ladder, he cited his opposition to financially helping the capital as evidence of his fiscal conservatism.
news.yahoo.comRacism seen as root of water crisis in Mississippi capital
Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves' announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi's capital came as welcome news. While the state plans to stop handing out free bottled water at sites around the city Saturday night, the city said water pressure still hasnโt been fully restored, and state health officials said lead in some pipes remains so worrisome that pregnant women and young children should still use bottled water. Wooten said Friday that the liquid flowing into her kitchen sink still smells like sewage, but not as bad as before, and she's glad she won't have to run to distribution sites before their bottled water supplies run out each day.
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