This story has been updated since publishing with numbers the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency released Tuesday morning.

County officials are continuing to tally damages throughout Mississippi, hopeful that the aftermath will qualify the areas for federal disaster assistance.

Gov. Tate Reeves said during a press conference Monday afternoon that the state will apply for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that more assessments are needed first.

The governor added that, based on previous experiences, there is a “high likelihood” the state will qualify for FEMA’s Individual Assistance, which provides resources directly to disaster victims. Reeves said he’s “hopeful” the state will also receive Public Assistance, which funds recovery for public buildings and infrastructure.

Seventeen tornadoes landed in the state between Friday and Saturday, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. In total, 23 counties took damage, Reeves said during a press conference at the Tylertown Baptist Church in Walthall County. Seven people died in Walthall, Covington and Jefferson Davis counties, and 29 were injured in those places as well as Pike County. Reeves said on Sunday that 217 people were displaced from their homes. The governor also confirmed that three people who were initially missing have been found alive.

On Tuesday, MEMA said it was aware of damages to 715 homes, 29 businesses, and 16 farms around Mississippi. Of those homes, 230 were in Leflore County, 182 in Walthall County, and 74 in Smith County.

One of the two tornadoes that hit Walthall County traveled across the Louisiana state line, Reeves said, staying on the ground for over 70 miles.

“That is not usual,” said the governor, who signed a State of Emergency declaration on Saturday.

Walthall County Board President Doug Popwell said that while the county’s assessment on Monday morning estimated 35 to 40 homes damaged, the total will likely reach over 100. Popwell added that “a lot of” chicken farms were hit as well. He said the Salem Attendance Center, a K through 12 public school in Tylertown, and some churches were also damaged.

“It’ll make you sick to your stomach when you go around and see people you know without homes,” he said. “It’s by far the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Popwell said this was as bad of a storm as he could remember in the county.

“We took a hard hit from (Hurricane) Katrina, and then in 2020 we had several bad tornadoes, but this is probably worse than either as far as the amount of lost homes,” he said.

He said Walthall County doesn’t have a long-term recovery committee, which the state recommends to help counties expedite the rebuilding process after a disaster. Popwell said they’ve received an “overwhelming” amount of food and water.

“More than anything, what we need right now is this (federal disaster) declaration from FEMA,” he said.

In Jefferson Davis County, emergency director Jocelyn Ragsdale emphasized that assessments were ongoing, so her estimates could change, but said as of now: 6o to 70 homes received damage, about 30 of which were destroyed; some chicken farms were total losses, and some county buildings also received damage.

Ragsdale said her area received similar damage from the Easter tornadoes of 2020.

“Total devastation,” she described. “We need as much help as we can get.”

President Trump has threatened to scrap FEMA altogether, something that would require congressional action. Last month, he approved making federal funds available to Kentucky and West Virginia, while threatening to attach strings to any money to help California recover from the deadly wildfires there. FEMA is also demanding the names of immigrants served by El Paso charities and local governments before reimbursing them for expenses.

When asked about potential changes to FEMA on Monday, Reeves said he wasn’t worried, emphasizing that disaster recoveries, as designed by the 1988 Stafford Act, are “state managed, locally executed, and federally supported.”

Both Popwell and Ragsdale said their respective counties did not have public safe rooms for residents to take shelter in prior to storms. Ragsdale said Jefferson Davis County is looking for funding to build a safe room.

In addition to the tornadoes, MEMA said that north Mississippi — in Prentiss and Tishomingo counties — received some flooding over the weekend (Tishomingo County emergency director Peyton Berklite said Monday no homes were damaged or trapped, though), and that there was a 3.0-magnitude earthquake in Magee on Saturday that hasn’t had any reported impacts. Reeves said on Sunday that power outages dropped from a high of 36,000 to below 8,000, with many of those being in Grenada and Walthall counties.

So far in 2025, Mississippi has already seen 57 tornadoes, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service, by far the most of any state this year. Last week’s tornadoes came about a week and a half before the two-year anniversary of the 2023 tornado storm that devastated Rolling Fork, Amory and other parts of the state.

MEMA shared this link for information on where to find shelters as well as to make a donation. The agency advised anyone looking to help not to self-deploy to impacted areas, but instead to connect with volunteer groups.

Updated 3/18/24: This story has been updated with new numbers of deaths and damage.

Below are more images of the damages caused by the March 14 and 15 storms:

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