A baby and her father are among dozens killed in the storm-ravaged South. Now a new round of dangerous weather targets the Southeast
By Elizabeth Wolfe, Holly Yan and Caroll Alvarado, CNN
Another round of violent weather is battering the Southeast on Monday after a spate of tornado-spawning storms over the weekend killed at least 22 people in the South — including a 1-year-old girl and her father.
From Houston to South Carolina, more than 20 million people are at risk of severe storms Monday.
“Large hail, damaging wind gusts, and frequent lightning will remain the primary risks throughout the day today but isolated tornadoes could still be possible,” CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink said.
There’s also a threat of dangerous flooding throughout the region.
“Due to the repeated rounds of heavy rainfall over the weekend and today, bouts of heavy rainfall could lead to instances of flash flooding across the Southeast,” Brink said.
Parts of the South repeatedly walloped by recent storms have seen 4 to 6 inches of rain over the last few days — and could get deluged with another 1 to 3 inches Monday.
Atlanta — which had already been pummeled by hail and up to 2 inches of rain overnight — could get another 2 inches of rain — leading to a risk of flooding.
A tornado kills a Navy veteran and his baby daughter
Ethan Herndon and his 1-year-old daughter Riley were killed when their mobile home was struck by a tornado that hit Mississippi on Friday night, family member Walter Edington said.
The family learned Ethan was dead but Riley was still missing, Edington said. “So about a dozen of us went over there to help look for the baby,” he said.
Around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, a first responder told the family that Riley had been found dead, Edington said.
The baby’s mother, Herndon’s wife Elizabeth, suffered a broken arm, a broken leg and a dislocated hip, Edington said.
The couple’s two other children were also injured but survived the tornado that devastated the community of Wren.
The National Weather Service in Memphis rated the tornado that hit Wren and nearby Amory as an EF-3 tornado — with estimated wind gusts between 136 and 165 mph.
Herndon was a Navy veteran and worked at a RV dealership to support his family, Edington said.
Elizabeth Herndon dedicated her time to taking care of Riley, who had been born prematurely and had several health issues, Edington said.
“They were really devoted to their daughter, Riley. She was the center of their home,” Edington said. “The family has been through a lot previously. I have a lot of respect for them. They are emotionally and physically shattered.”
Edington started a verified GoFundMe to help with the family’s recovery. “They have suffered the most painful and terrifying loss any of us can imagine, and their needs are obvious and great,” Edington wrote on the fundraiser’s page.
‘Homes have been totally demolished’
The South has suffered an onslaught of destructive weather since the weekend. At least 10 confirmed tornadoes struck Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee on Friday night, according to storm surveys by various weather service offices. President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for parts of Mississippi on Sunday.
Over the weekend, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency had given a death toll of 25, but it reduced that number Monday, confirming three storm-related deaths in Carroll County, three deaths in Humphreys County, two deaths in Monroe County and 13 deaths in Sharkey County for a total of 21 fatalities.
Malary White, the agency’s chief communications officer, told CNN “numbers can be fluid,” when asked about the deaths.
Alabama reported one death as a result of the storms.
In Rolling Fork, Mississippi — home to about 2,000 people — an especially violent tornado obliterated houses, businesses and city buildings.
“Homes have been totally demolished,” Rolling Fork Vice Mayor LaDonna Sias told CNN on Monday. She said her own home was also destroyed.
Sias and her husband survived by hiding in a closet just before the EF-4 tornado — with estimated wind gusts of 166 to 200 mph — shredded their house.
“He pushed me in … his closet, and he was able to close the door,” Sias said. “And the minute he closed the door, the force … he was just constantly trying to hold the door so it wouldn’t come open. And you could literally hear the house ripping apart.”
Despite the loss of her own home, Sias said she’s focused on helping other residents — including those who have lost loved ones.
“The hardest part is having to witness someone that has lost a loved one and then having to talk to people that were residents here but have been displaced due to this disaster,” Sias said. “It’s hard. It’s overwhelming. And it’s heart-wrenching.”
‘It looks like a battle zone’
Search and recovery efforts were still underway in Mississippi on Sunday as emergency personnel also worked to distribute critical resources, including bottled water, portable restrooms, batteries and fuel, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.
Some Rolling Fork neighborhoods and businesses were so badly hit there was “not any immediate shelter anywhere” on Sunday, Sharkey County District 1 Supervisor Bill Newsom told CNN.
“Everyone is affected. Entire subdivisions and neighborhoods … some are just wiped away, they’re just not even there,” Newsom said.
“It looks like a battle zone.”
The vice mayor said she is the most concerned about finding support for the families who have lost loved ones and are facing “total devastation.”
“We need to make sure that those people that are displaced, that no longer have any type of structure — they need immediate housing. They need some kind of assistance,” Sias said.
Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been deployed to Mississippi, and the agency will work with state officials to find interim housing for those impacted, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Resident David Brown’s parents, Melissa and Lonnie Pierce, were both killed Friday when a tractor-trailer was picked up by the tornado and thrown on top of their home, CNN affiliate WAPT reported.
“Words can’t express how I’m feeling. I don’t know — broken,” Brown told WAPT.
Brown said his son could have been in the home if he had not picked him up before the storm.
His family spent the weekend sifting through the crushed residence, searching for any salvageable reminder of his parents.
“Honestly, if I can find anything in the rubble,” he said, “it would mean more than anything.”
Parts of Georgia are under a flash flood emergency
The National Weather Service in Atlanta has clarified that the Heads Creek Dam in central Georgia has not failed, citing Spalding County emergency management officials.
“There has not been any failure or breach of the Heads Creek Reservoir in Spalding County. We are only experiencing overflow from the excessive rainfall and activating the Emergency Action Plan out of an abundance of precaution,” the weather service office in Atlanta said Monday.
A flash flood emergency is still in place. The weather service said it is coordinating with state and local officials and communicating the potential flood threat in the area.
“Because the Emergency Action Plan was activated, using the word ‘imminent’ and not ‘potential’ failure, the FF Emergency was used,” the weather service said.
Previously the weather service had said a flash flood emergency was in place for areas downstream from Heads Creek Reservoir in western Spalding County after a dam failed, citing a local emergency manager.
More than 100 homes damaged in Georgia
Another tornado destroyed dozens of homes Sunday in LaGrange, Georgia, Troup County Emergency Management Director Zachary Steele said.
And many as 100 homes were damaged in the western Georgia city.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency order to provide more state resources for affected communities’ recovery.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Rob Shackelford, Allison Chinchar, Devon M. Sayers, Michelle Watson and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
