MS tornado claims one; power out

COLUMBUS, Miss. - One person was killed and at least a dozen injured when a tornado smashed into the commercial district of Columbus around 5 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 23). The tornado struck about 5 p.m. and was confirmed on radar, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Wolverton in Jackson. A team from NWS would be going to Columbus on Sunday to gauge the storm’s intensity. Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant identified the victim as Ashley Glynell Pounds, 41, of Tupelo. Pounds was one of four people in a Tuscaloosa Road building that collapsed during the storm. She was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, where she died during surgery, he said. Todd Gale, general manager of Columbus Light and Water, confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper that the hospital was running on emergency generators - and some 4,700 residents were without power - as of 7:30 p.m. Saturday. In Bruce, Miss., located some 50 miles SW of Tupelo, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. A state of emergency was declared in Grenada, Miss. – located some 70 miles NW of Starkville - after dozens of streets and homes flooded. NWS had issued a flash flood warning for Lafayette County, Miss., after emergency officials reported that the Audubon Dam, which blocks a creek on the northside of Oxford, was at risk of failing. Weather officials said the storm system threatened areas from eastern Arkansas across the South into Alabama. (Source: The Dispatch 02/24/19)