ROLLING FORK, Mississippi — James Anderson was in bed when he heard the roar of the tornado. Startled, the 61-year-old man rolled to the ground just as the windows of his house burst under the pressure of the storm.
“It sounded like someone had a machine gun,” he said.
Amid the chaos, she yelled at her sister, Barbie Anderson, to grab her grandchildren, a baby and a 7-year-old boy, and run. Barbie pushed them into a hallway, shielded her body with hers, and prayed.
«Lord,» he pleaded, «please take care of us.»
The Andersons’ lives were spared and their little brick house was left standing. But in a small Delta town of about 2,000 people, hardly anyone escaped the storm without losing someone they knew or loved. As rescue and recovery teams arrived in the city, James Anderson learned that the adult daughter of his fiancée, April Johnson, was one of at least 26 people who died in the storm. She had been working at the local Family Dollar when the roof collapsed, Anderson said.
Her fiancé will be in charge of Johnson’s five children.
“Grandma now has to go back to being the mother,” she said.
Early Sunday, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Mississippi and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement.
With more storms forecast for Sunday afternoon, residents and cleanup crews scrambled to clear downed trees, repair broken windows with black trash bags and cover damaged roofs with blue tarps. A few blocks from the Anderson home, mountains of rubble, the remains of lives and destroyed businesses began to line Highway 61, the famous Blues Highway that runs from New Orleans to Minnesota.
The displaced residents rested in a Red Cross shelter set up in a National Guard Armory. Mae and Will Smith, both 71, spent the last two nights at the shelter after a tree crashed into their home. As the storm approached, Smith had his granddaughter sleep in a room on the side of the house with fewer trees.
“I’m glad I did it,” Smith said. «The bed is full of glass.»
The fallen tree trapped Will Smith, who is disabled, in his bedroom. The volunteers turned on chainsaws to cut a path through the house and get him out.
“I miss my home,” he said at the shelter. «I wish none of this had happened.»
Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker spoke to a reporter and first responders at a John Deere store that was converted into a staging center for the rescue and cleanup effort. Walker’s eyes filled with tears as he talked about the losses.
“Listen, everyone knows each other, no matter which side you live on,” he said. I have friends that I have lost in this storm.
Walker said he will mourn with his constituents twice: once as mayor and once as co-owner of a local funeral home.
As mayor, Walker said he will do everything in his power to «help them get back on their feet.» As the funeral director, he will be there to hold their hands as they mourn all that has been lost.