US President Joe Biden was forced to declare a state of emergency in the southeastern state of Mississippi today (Sunday) after it was swept by strong storms that killed at least 25 people and displaced hundreds, while rescue teams resumed searches for survivors under the rubble.
A White House statement stated that Biden had ordered federal aid to support governmental and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the hurricane, and added that funding would be provided to those affected in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, all in Mississippi, which is one of the poorest US states.
The federal aid will go toward temporary housing for victims, repair work and low-interest loans to cover losses on uninsured property.
The National Weather Service warned of a risk of more severe weather today, including high winds, significant hail and possible tornadoes in eastern Louisiana, south-central Mississippi and southern Alabama.
And the “ABC” channel announced that at least 13 people died in Sharkey County, 3 others in Carroll County, and two in Monroe County, and a policeman in Humphreys County reported that one person was killed.
In Alabama, bordering Mississippi, a man was killed in a truck rollover due to bad weather, Morgan County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter.
"We are witnessing a tragedy," Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wrote in a tweet, speaking of "tremendous damage" after storms and a hurricane hit the region over a distance of more than 150 kilometers from west to east of Mississippi.
The emergency services in Mississippi stated that the disaster left dozens of injured and hundreds of homeless people, adding that 4 people who were missing had been found.
The disaster deprived about 4,800 residents of the state of electricity, and power was cut off from 11,000 homes and businesses in neighboring Alabama, according to a website specializing in news of power outages in the United States.
Okaz (Washington)