VIDEO: Webster County Remembers The 2011 Tornado

WEBSTER COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)—For many,  April 27th  is an ordinary day in Spring. For residents of Webster County, April 27th will always be the day an EF-3 tornado danced around, leaving destruction in it’s path and impacting the lives of many.

Webster County 911 Director Jimmy McLemore says he remembers April 27th, 2011 like it was yesterday.

“We had damage here, our communications tower had actually blown down. Of course, we didn’t have any lights at that time either. The communication through our center was pretty much cut off,” said McLemore.

McLemore says the storm came quickly and was widespread. Even emergency respondents needed help.

” We had to try to get the emergency services to different areas and that was a struggle. Most of the roads in that area was blocked by trees. We had to get other crews in there to cut the trees down, to get the fire department and the ambulance in,”said McLemore.

Lee Gilliland is the Mathiston fire chief. He says there was a lot to learn from that event but it was a lesson that hit close to home for his family.

” I had a big tree in my house which was almost the death of one of my sons,”said Gilliland.

One person died that day in Webster County. Close to 15 others were injured and more than 200 structures sustained damaged. In addition to the destruction, the storm left behind a lot of fear.

“When we get a weather warning or notice, it just pretty much scares us to death. What’s going to happen this time, you know, we are all keyed up and kind of expecting the worse, every time,”said McLemore.

Gilliland says it was a tragic event but it brought out the best in people.

“Our community came together real well, We saw the school was hit real hard so we tried to get units to start working that way. All-in-all it’s been a long time coming back but we’ve come back stronger and a much closer knit as far as community wise,”said Gilliland.

As a result of the 2011 tornado, the 911 center received new equipment and Webster county joined the Code Red System.

Categories: Local News

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