Mississippi Delta Tornadoes

At least 26 people died and dozens more were injured after at least 12 tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama overnight Friday, marking one of the region's deadliest tornado events. The White House issued an emergency declaration to unlock federal aid in the rural Mississippi Delta region, one of the nation's poorest.

A powerful, upward-rotating storm fueled by high temperatures known as a supercell (see 101) formed late Friday in northwest Mississippi and stretched into Alabama, leaving a 60-mile wide path of destruction. Of the dozen twisters spotted (see video), the strongest was an EF-4 whose near 200-mph winds flattened the Delta town of Rolling Fork, launching objects as high as 30,000 feet. See photos of the damage here and drone footage here.

Residents in Amory, Mississippi, were asked to boil water amid damage to city water infrastructure. The system also wrought havoc in Ohio, where roughly 175,000 residents were without power as of Sunday evening.