In a small Delta town of about 2,000 people, hardly anyone escaped the storm without losing someone they knew or loved.
ROLLING FORK, Mississippi — James Anderson was in bed when he heard the tornado’s roar. Startled, the 61-year-old rolled onto the floor just as his home’s windows exploded under the pressure of the storm.
It “sounded like someone had a machine gun,” he said.
Through the chaos, he shouted for his sister, Barbie Anderson, to grab her grandchildren — an infant and a 7-year-old — and run. Barbie pulled them into a hallway, shielded their bodies with hers and prayed.
“Lord,” she pleaded, “please take care of us.”
The Andersons’ lives were spared and their small brick home left standing. But in a small Delta town of about 2,000 people, hardly anyone escaped the storm without losing someone they knew or loved. As rescue and recovery crews poured into town, James Anderson learned that his fiance’s adult daughter, April Johnson, was one of at least 26 people killed in the storm. She’d been working at the local Family Dollar when the roof collapsed, Anderson said.
His fiance will be left to care for Johnson’s five children.
“The grandmother now has to be the mother all over again,” he said.
Early Sunday, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Mississippi and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement.
The Andersons’ lives were spared and their small brick home left standing. But in a small Delta town of about 2,000 people, hardly anyone escaped the storm without losing someone they knew or loved. As rescue and recovery crews poured into town, James Anderson learned that his fiance’s adult daughter, April Johnson, was one of at least 26 people killed in the storm. She’d been working at the local Family Dollar when the roof collapsed, Anderson said.
His fiance will be left to care for Johnson’s five children.
“The grandmother now has to be the mother all over again,” he said.
Early Sunday, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Mississippi and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement.
Displaced residents rested at a Red Cross shelter set up in a National Guard Armory. Mae and Will Smith, both 71, spent the past two nights at the shelter, after a tree crashed onto their home. As the storm bore down, Smith made her granddaughter sleep in a room on the side of the house with fewer trees.
“Glad, I did,” Smith said. “The bed is full of glass.”
The downed tree trapped Will Smith, who’s disabled, in his room. Volunteers fired up chainsaws to cut a path through the home in order to get him out.
“I miss my house,” he said at the shelter. “I wish none of this had happened.”
Rolling Fork’s mayor, Eldridge Walker, spoke with a reporter and first responders at a John Deere store that’s been converted into a staging center for the rescue and clean-up effort. Walker’s eyes brimmed with tears as he talked about the losses.
“Listen, everybody knows each other, regardless of what side you live on,” he said. “I have friends that I’ve lost in this storm.”
Walker said he will grieve with his constituents twice — once as their mayor and again as the co-owner of a local funeral home.
As mayor, Walker said he’ll do everything in his power to “help them get back on their feet.” As funeral director, he’ll be there to hold their hands as they mourn all that’s been lost.