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| View of Hardy Street in downtown Hattiesburg |
| Jana Edwards/photo |
A powerful tornado ripped through Hattiesburg late Sunday afternoon causing significant damage to homes and businesses. According to reports from a Coast newspaper, the Sun Herald, no one was seriously injured in the twister which followed along Hardy Street, one of Hattiesburg’s main thoroughfares.
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| Friends remove debris from a driveway near Petal, Ms. |
All clergy in Hattiesburg have been contacted by the diocesan disaster prep and relief team. “We have several parishioners whose houses were damaged,” said the Rev. Marian Fortner, rector of Trinity. Assessments of damage to parishioners’ houses are taking place today.
St. Peter’s by-the-Sea/Gulfport is standing by to send work crew JC Carpenter Guys to help with debris removal as soon contact information is forwarded to the disaster relief team. St. Peter’s has a disaster relief trailer that has been used to respond to several severe weather situations in the diocese over the years.
Ascension Episcopal Church and Trinity Episcopal Church report no damage to the church property. Ascension is near the Southern University which sustained significant damage; however, the Very Rev. Susan Bear said that a home that is owned by Ascension was destroyed. "The church owns a home that has renters in it which was completely destroyed," said Bear, rector of Ascension Church. "It is a miracle that no one was killed or injured."
Power is still out in much of the city. The Mississippi mobile command until is setting up to guide relief efforts in Hattiesburg today; also, Gov. Phil Bryant is scheduled to visit the city today.
If anyone would like to help with the relief effort, please call the Rev. Scott Lenoir, co-coordinator of the disaster prep and relief team, who is helping deploy crews to specific locations in the damaged areas of Hattiesburg. Email Scott at slenoir1@gmail.com or call 601-331-1863.
The Rev. Scott Lenoir is the editor of The Mississippi Episcopalian.
