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Rolling Fork tornado victims mourn those killed

Residents share stories of survival

Rolling Fork tornado victims mourn those killed

Residents share stories of survival

AND THEY SPOKE WITH 16 WAPT’S MADELEINE NOLAN COMPLETE AND UTTER DEVASTATION FOR THE SMALL TOWN OF ROLLING FORK, MISSISSIPPI. MANY PEOPLE ARE IN MOURNING. >> THIS IS MARY DIDN’T MAKE IT MOVE BY FIRE. SHE DIDN’T MAKE IT. I STILL HAVEN’T COMPLETELY, YOU KNOW, ACCEPTED THAT YET. MY FAMILY’S GOING TO BE DEVASTATED. A SCAR HAS BEEN LEFT ACROSS THE HEART OF MISSISSIPPI FOLLOWING FRIDAY NIGHT’S TORNADO. SEEMED LIKE A PROTECTION AND WAS OVER THERE WHERE WE WERE. AND EVERYTHING ELSE WAS GONE. ALL THE WALLS, THE ROOFS, EVERYTHING WAS ON SEPARATE. >> IT WAS ON TOP OF A HE NEXT DOOR ON WORTHINGTON’S STREET. >> A MOTHER AND HER EIGHT MONTH OLD DAUGHTER TOOK COVER AS THE TWISTER TORE THROUGH THEIR HOME. >> AND IT HAPPENED SO FAST BECAUSE I HAD JUST GOT MY BABY OUT THE BABY AND PUT HER ON A COUCH WITH ME IN A BIG COZY MY ROOM. SHE WOULDN’T HAVE MADE IT IF I HADN’T GOT HER TO BE MANY LIVES OF PEOPLE IN ROLLING FORK HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOREVER. >> EVER. SOME DESTROYED. >> IT’S JUST HEARTBREAKING. >> TERRIBLE. YOU KNOW, JUST SO BAD. AND LIKE I SAID, WHENEVER I ARRIVED OVER HERE, I HOLLERED FOR THEM FOR MAYBE 30 MINUTES, AN HOUR OR SO. >> ACCORDING TO FAMILY MEMBERS, MELISSA AND LONNIE PEARCE WERE KILLED WHEN AN 18 WHEELER LANDED ON THEIR SEVENTH STREET HOME OVER THIRD HEAVEN. >> OH, NO. AND I WAS TOLD THAT THEY PASSED AWAY IN EACH OTHER’S HOMES IN ROLLING FORK, MADELEIN
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Rolling Fork tornado victims mourn those killed

Residents share stories of survival

As the sun came up Saturday, many soon realized the severity of the damage from Friday night’s tornado that killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.There was complete and utter devastation in the small town of Rolling Fork, where people were mourning the deaths of more than a dozen people.“My sister didn’t make it. Mary Barfield didn’t make it,” said Rolling Fork resident Jimmy Barfield. “I still haven’t, you know, completely accepted that yet. My family is going to be devastated.”A scar has been left across the heart of Mississippi following the tornado.“It seems like a protection, a hand was over where we were, and everything else was gone. All the walls and the roof, everything was gone except for that bathroom,” Barfield said. Next door on Worthington Street, a woman and her 8-month-old daughter took cover as the twister tore through their home.“It happened so fast, because I had just gotten my baby out of the bed and put her on the couch with me,” she said. “She wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t grab her out of the bed.”The lives of people in Rolling Fork have been changed forever, some destroyed.“It was just heartbreaking, terrible. Just so bad, and like I said, whenever I arrived over here, and I hollered for them for maybe 30 minutes, an hour or so,” said Michael Brown, a cousin of one of the victims.According to family members, Malissa and Lonnie Pierce were killed when an 18-wheeler landed on their 7th Street home.“They’re in heaven right now,” said David Brown, Malissa’s son. “I was told they passed away in each other’s arms.”

As the sun came up Saturday, many soon realized the severity of the damage from Friday night’s tornado that killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.

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There was complete and utter devastation in the small town of Rolling Fork, where people were mourning the deaths of more than a dozen people.

“My sister didn’t make it. Mary Barfield didn’t make it,” said Rolling Fork resident Jimmy Barfield. “I still haven’t, you know, completely accepted that yet. My family is going to be devastated.”

A scar has been left across the heart of Mississippi following the tornado.

“It seems like a protection, a hand was over where we were, and everything else was gone. All the walls and the roof, everything was gone except for that bathroom,” Barfield said.

Next door on Worthington Street, a woman and her 8-month-old daughter took cover as the twister tore through their home.

“It happened so fast, because I had just gotten my baby out of the bed and put her on the couch with me,” she said. “She wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t grab her out of the bed.”

The lives of people in Rolling Fork have been changed forever, some destroyed.

“It was just heartbreaking, terrible. Just so bad, and like I said, whenever I arrived over here, and I hollered for them for maybe 30 minutes, an hour or so,” said Michael Brown, a cousin of one of the victims.

According to family members, Malissa and Lonnie Pierce were killed when an 18-wheeler landed on their 7th Street home.

“They’re in heaven right now,” said David Brown, Malissa’s son. “I was told they passed away in each other’s arms.”