“Only thing I knew to do was say ‘Lord help us.’ That’s the only prayer I could utter.”
By Flora Dedeaux
Published: Jun. 20, 2023 at 12:18 PM CDT
MOSS POINT, Miss. (WLOX) - As the sun rose Tuesday morning, many Moss Point residents woke up to another day of picking up the pieces after a tornado tore through the city Monday afternoon.
Crews are working to restore power, survey damage and begin the rebuilding process.
WLOX has had crews on scene all morning, bringing you live footage of uprooted trees, downed power lines, and severely damaged buildings, as well as interviews with officials who are working tirelessly to get the community back on its feet.
First, Bill Snyder joined us live outside M&M Bank in downtown Moss Point, where heavy damage can be seen to the roof and windows.
The First Missionary Baptist Church, as well as several houses in the area, were also severely damaged.
National Weather Service survey teams are headed out to the area, where they will give the tornado a designation on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale. Tuesday morning speculation is the tornado could read as high-end EF1 or EF2, perhaps low-end EF3, but those numbers aren’t official as of yet.
Snyder reports a couple planes have taken off from the Trent Lott International Airport Tuesday morning, also conducting damage surveys.
At the corner of Magnolia Street and Bellview Avenue, Chet Landry shows us uprooted trees and damage to buildings, including multiple homes and the Boy Scouts of America Troup 220 building.
“This whole block right now smells like a Christmas tree market because you can smell all of the trees that have been broken,” Landry says on camera.
Moss Point Police told WLOX many of the uprooted trees have been removed from roads, but some roads are still closed Tuesday morning due to debris.
Outside St. Paul United Methodist Church, Landry speaks with a Moss Point resident who experienced the harsh storm firsthand.
Roland Myers was in his home near the church when the tornado hit. Myers says the experience was terrifying.
“First the wind started off slow, then it intensified. And it didn’t last but three minutes, but it seemed like three hours,” Myers said. “I thought the wind wasn’t going to ever stop blowing. And it picked up limbs and stuff and threw stuff everywhere. And we thought we was gonna die.”
Myers says it was a powerful storm that left his family wondering if the roof would come off their house or if it would be totally destroyed.
“Only thing I knew to do was say ‘Lord help us,’” Meyers said. “That’s the only prayer I could utter.”
WLOX crews ran into Moss Point School District Superintendent Dr. Oswago Harper while relocating for a live shot.
Dr. Harper provided updates on damage both inside and outside Moss Point High School.
The volleyball team was in the gymnasium practicing when the tornado hit, but fortunately no one was injured.
“Well first and foremost we’re extremely blessed and thankful to God that none of our children and faculty and staff were harmed so, extremely thankful to God for that,” Dr. Harper said.
Dr. Harper says there is significant damage at the high school, including flooding on the top and bottom floors because of breaches in the roofing.
He says the gym, football stadium and softball and baseball complexes were extremely damaged. The press box at the football stadium was completely blown off.
“Myself and the maintenance team will actually do a tour of [the high school] to see how much damage we sustained in all parts of the building, and if we need to make some adjustments and shift to other locations, that’s what we’ll do,” Dr. Harper said.
Bill Snyder caught up with Melvin Roland, Mississippi Power Storm Director and a Moss Point native, for an update on power restoration efforts in the area.
Roland says crews worked overnight to bring back power to more than 3,000 residents. Tuesday morning, he says crews have made a lot of progress, but debris and flooding make restoration efforts more difficult.
“Right now we know we have at least 75 broken poles,” Roland says. “And we have made significant progress last night... We had crews working through the night, and we restored as many customers as we could. We currently have approximately 600 customers out in the Moss Point area.”
Bill Snyder was also able to touch base with Moss Point Alderman Wayne Lennep, who says the board planned to meet with Moss Point Mayor Billy Knight at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to discuss plans for restoration efforts.
“Yes, significant- and very surprising,” Alderman Lennep says about the tornado. “You know, we’re not used to this... We’re accustomed to looking toward the Gulf this time of the year for the hurricanes, and for something like this to pop up is really a shocker.”
As of Tuesday morning, there have been no injuries or deaths reported from the storm.
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