Weather conditions which are being called “unprecedented” for this time of year resulted in widespread tree damage across central Mississippi on Wednesday. The National Weather Service had reports of 80 mile an hour winds in some of the strongest storms and warned of the potential for “tornado-like” damage. Large hail was another concern with a 5-inch hailstone reported in Noxubee County near Brooksville. That would be one of the largest in state history. The storms knocked out power to thousands of Mississippi homes and businesses. As of 6:45 pm Wednesday, more than 30,000 outages were being reported including over 5,500 in Attala County, more than 3,700 in Holmes County, some 2,800 in Neshoba County and about 2,600 in Leake County.
The storm threat continues overnight with a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for all the local area until 2 am.
