UPDATE: National Weather Service verifies 5th Pine Belt touchdown

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - The Pine Belt, specifically Marion County, apparently played host to yet another windy visitor Tuesday night.

On a third report update, the National Weather Service confirmed that a fifth tornado had touched down Tuesday night in the Pine Belt.

The NWS said an EF-2 had touched down “just north of Ten Mile Creek Road in southern Marion County.”

Including an EF-3 just over the Mississippi state line in Fruitland, Ala., Tuesday night’s/Wednesday morning’s storm cell produced six tornadoes that touched down in a swath that started in Tilton, Bunker Hill and Bassfield and moved east.

The latest discovery had a brief but rather destructive life on Earth.

The NWS report says the tornado “initially produced minor damage in a stand of trees.”

That changed fairly quickly, as the tornado quickly intensified.

“An outbuilding was blown over in this area,” the report read. “The tornado began to intensify quickly and produced damage to a residence as it moved eastward, with roof damage, damage to trees and vegetation, the downing of power poles as well as a flagpole.”

Things went from bad to worse for structures and trees that found themselves in the slim route of a stronger-still tornado.

“The tornado tracked eastward, where it continued to intensify, reaching its maximum intensity of EF-2, with approximately 125-mile-per-hour winds,” the report read. “Here, a cellular tower along Dunaway Loop was destroyed.

“As the tornado crossed Highway 35, damage to outbuildings and snapped/uprooted trees were common in a narrow path.”

As quickly as it came, the tornado spent itself.

“The tornado dissipated west of the Pearl River, a short distance east of the highway.”

The National Weather Service is expected to continue its examination of the storm’s aftermath until its no longer feasible to do so.

In its initial “severe weather damage” report last week, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said 47 homes were reported as having suffered damage statewide, while two people were hurt.

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