The screenshot taken from the recent web streaming of The Associated Press shows the aftermath of the tornado that happened on March 24, 2023 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, the United States. (Xinhua)
For Rolling Fork, a rebuilding process now awaits unlike any the town has faced before.
NEW YORK, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A deadly tornado tore through the lower Mississippi Delta last Friday, flattening entire blocks in the town of Rolling Fork, with at least 25 people killed and dozens injured in the poorest regions of the country, reported The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday.
"Their homes rendered unlivable, many Rolling Fork residents flocked Sunday to the network of churches dotting the landscape. It is a close-knit farming community bound by intergenerational ties of family and faith that form the social fabric of this rural Southern town of about 2,000," said the report.
For Rolling Fork, a rebuilding process now awaits unlike any the town has faced before. But the tornado wasn't the first time residents have had their lives upended by the elements. In 2019, the worst flooding since 1973 drove some from their homes, according to the report.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency and vowed to help rebuild as he viewed the damage in the region, which boasts wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the hardest hit areas. ■
