As President Joe Biden approved disaster relief for storm-ravaged Mississippi, where at least 25 people were killed in the wake of a powerful tornado outbreak, a series of twisters touched down on Sunday in Georgia, two of which were deemed "large and extremely dangerous."
Up until midnight on Sunday, the NWS extended a tornado watch eastward across Mississippi.
The weather service advised "take cover now" to residents of the Macon, Georgia, suburbs of Milledgeville, Linton, Beulah, and Underwood on Sunday morning.
According to the weather service, a second tornado was confirmed to have made landfall early Sunday morning near LaGrange, Georgia, which is approximately 65 miles southeast of Atlanta. The tornado was moving east at 40 mph.
Residents in the path of the two funnel clouds were warned by the weather service, "You are in a life-threatening situation."
The Troup County Sheriff's Office in Georgia confirmed that a likely tornado damaged between 80 and 100 structures in the town of West Point near the Alabama border, with 20 to 30 structures suffering significant damage. According to the sheriff's office, the storm caused injuries to up to three individuals.
Two tigers escaped from their damaged enclosure at the Pine Mountain Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia, which is about 40 miles north of Columbus, Georgia. However, they were quickly recaptured and returned to the wildlife park.
Due to the heavy rain and flooding that came with the tornado activity, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for a portion of Georgia.
Sunday afternoon, parts of Alabama and Georgia were still under a tornado watch.
A severe thunderstorm watch is also in effect for at least 4 million people in the South, with hail the size of golf balls and winds of 60 mph expected.
On Friday, towns in rural Mississippi began cleaning up after the swarm of tornadoes, as the severe weather from the early spring storm that started in California and spawned twisters near Los Angeles and Santa Barbara continued in the South.
On Sunday, Biden approved disaster relief for Mississippi, putting money in the hands of those who were harmed by the storm. Bureaucratic assets will be accessible to government, ancestral and different organizations in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey districts, the White House said in a proclamation.
"The greatest need for me is, one, ensuring that the nearby purviews, those people on call, have each of the assets that they need. And then, second, that we begin to care for these families," ABC's "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz was informed on Sunday by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
"To be able to see firsthand the impacts that some of these communities have had," Criswell stated, "to be able to see firsthand the impacts that some of these communities have had."
A rating of EF-4 was given to the severe tornado that struck Rolling Fork, Mississippi, late on Friday. This indicates that the storm was rare and powerful.
The preliminary rating comes at a time when staff members are still gathering information about the storm, according to the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Mississippi.
According to the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, tornadoes are given a number from 0 to 5, with 5 representing the most devastating damage. The Storm Prediction Center says that only one percent of tornadoes are EF-4. The vast majority of twisters have historically been rated EF-0 or EF-1.
Early reports indicated that the tornado remained on the ground for approximately 70 minutes, traveling 59 miles. It had a maximum width of approximately 4,000 feet, or three-quarters of a mile.
The tornado had a maximum wind gust of 170 mph.
Eldridge Walker, mayor of Rolling Fork, stated that search-and-rescue efforts were "pretty close" to being completed, and authorities believe that everyone is safe. He claimed that his town of approximately 1,800 people was nearly erased from history.
"The people group has been obliterated. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Walker stated, "Now we've got to reassemble the pieces."
Walker is likewise the town's memorial service chief and expressed a portion of the 20 individuals killed in the cyclone that struck his town were companions.
Moving Stone inhabitant Erwin Macon remained external his totally pulverized home with only a bag that he said held every one of the belongings he has left. Macon told ABC News that during the cyclone he was protected from flying trash by a floor covering that appeared unexpectedly and arrived on him.
Macon stated that all he wants is to be alive.
He stated, "All of this can be replaced." regarding his house. I'll be fine.
Three people were killed and extensive damage was done to the towns of Blackhawk and Winona by a separate tornado that tore through Carroll and Montgomery counties in Mississippi, cutting a 28.6-mile path of destruction. The twister, which measured half a mile wide and was given a preliminary rating of EF-3 by the National Weather Service, sustained winds of up to 155 mph and remained on the ground for more than 25 minutes.
Mississippi was also hit by at least four other tornadoes, all of which measured EF-1 and had winds of 90 to 110 mph.
One of the three people who perished in the EF-4 tornado that struck Silver City on Friday night is a 2-year-old girl, according to ABC News and the Humphreys County coroner. The coroner stated that several other residents are still in critical condition.
Ten tornadoes formed on Friday, including the one that struck Mississippi and a pair of EF-2 funnel clouds in Alabama that killed a person in Hartselle, Morgan County.
According to officials, another EF-2 twister struck near Fayetteville, Tennessee, and churned for four miles on the ground in just six minutes. The tornado destroyed a large shed, ripped the reinforced roof off of the horse stalls at the local fairgrounds, snapped trees and power poles, and damaged the roofs of several homes and businesses. According to officials, the tornado also slammed a large horse trailer to the ground and picked up several automobiles.
The disaster declaration was submitted on Saturday by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who stated that the "scale of the damage and loss is evident everywhere affected today."