Final weekend of 2024 blows: Storms damage various areas of county

By Paul Keane
The Wayne County News
Sounds of utility and emergency vehicles backing up and working filled the Sunday morning skies after severe storms and tornadoes rolled through Wayne County.
Approximately 35 homes were damaged with four homes and four or possibly five mobile homes being totally destroyed as the storms rolled through on Friday afternoon and then again on Saturday night.
Officials with the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency were busy over the weekend but began the real work of doing damage assessments on Sunday and into Monday. Officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service were also busy on Monday and Tuesday to shoot aerial footage in order to track the tornadoes paths and measure the strength of them.
Wayne County EMA Director Angela Atchison said after Friday’s storm rolled through the Strengthford area but that late Saturday night things picked back up in other parts of the county.
On Friday afternoon, a tornado hit the Strengthford area and rolled across HIghway 84, severely damaging a home on 84 near Van Hoover Road where the roof was ripped off. Homes on Oscar Bell Road and Macxey Drive also suffered major damage.
Things were then calm for most of Saturday after picking back up in the evening hours.
“We thought we were in the clear Saturday, but then I received a call from the National Weather Service that a storm with rotation was coming from Richton into the Clara area,” Atchison said. “The one did not appear to touch down but it did destroy a mobile home on Frank Clark Drive. Those appear to have been done by straight-line winds.
“Then, at 10:10 p.m., the National Weather Service called and said there was rotation in the Winchester area moving toward Denham.”
The storm coming from Richton eventually hit the Buckatunna and Pineville areas.
Thousands of chickens were killed when chicken houses owned by Robert Coxwell suffered heavy damage. One house was totally destroyed, and other homes were heavily damaged.
Coxwell said the response from neighbors, members of the community and first responders was “tremendous.” He said many residents came out with more equipment than county crews had available, and that many of them stayed and worked to clear roadways and the area until early in the morning.
On Taylor Circle, a mobile home was lifted up into the air and driven into a car and a truck. The home across the street from the mobile home had its roof lifted off its top and placed back down on it, according to homeowner Demarcus Henderson.
Four people were injured in that incident and transported to Wayne General Hospital. All four have been released.
Various trees were broken off throughout the county, and one tree landed on a home on Denham-Buckatunna Creek Road.
“First responders were out all night Saturday and during most of Sunday,” Atchison said. “The American Red Cross came in on Sunday to begin cases for residents and to hand out meals.
“There was one good-hearted resident who put one family up in a hotel and worked to get them clothes and other items from Samaritan’s Closet.”
Atchison praised the efforts of all first responders who quickly were on the scene to clear roads, offer aid and assist citizens.
“The Sheriff’s Department — including the Sheriff himself — all of the fire departments, the hospital, Waynesboro Police and Waynesboro Fire were all a great help during this event,” she said. “I can’t say enough about their efforts and what they all did to help citizens who suffered damage.”
The EMA Director said now comes the work of assessing everything and turning in necessary paperwork quickly to see what type of assistance is available for the county and its residents.
“We are doing assessments now to see if we meet the threshold for state and or federal assistance,” Atchison said. “We have to turn in those assessments quickly in order to allow the state to evaluate them and then see what type of assistance we may be eligible for.”