WALTHALL COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) – Officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said crews are working with counties that were impacted by the tornado outbreak on March 14-15, 2025.

Seven fatalities have been reported. Counties are finishing up initial damage assessments and MEMA has begun validating those damages.

MEMA has received reports of 715 homes, 29 businesses, and 16 farms damaged statewide. Those numbers are expected to rise as damage assessments continue. Power restoration continues with only 1,369 outages reported statewide as of 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed 17 tornadoes touched down March 14-15. The strongest tornado was an EF-4 that started in Louisiana and traveled through Pike, Walthall, Marion, Jefferson Davis, and Covington counties. The tornado had maximum wind speeds of 170 mph and was on the ground for 65.2 miles.

Shelters are open for survivors in two locations:

• Grenada County – Grenada City Auditorium: 17 N Main St, Grenada, MS 38901
• Smith County – Taylorsville Attendance Center Gymnasium – 324 Hester St. Taylorsville, MS 39168

There are two donation drop-off locations open: one in Walthall County and the other in Grenada County.

The following counties have submitted official damage reports to MEMA:

• Calhoun – 2 roads, 1 bridge
• Carroll – 4 homes, 1 business, 1 farm, 10 roads
• Chickasaw
• Covington – 1 death
• Forrest
• George
• Grenada – 43 homes, 3 businesses, 1 road
• Holmes
• Humphreys
• Issaquena
• Itawamba – 30 homes, 3 businesses, 3 public buildings
• Jasper – 16 homes, 1 business, 1 road
• Jefferson Davis – 62 homes, 4 farms, 2 deaths
• Lee
• Leflore – 230 homes, 6 businesses
• Marion – 49 homes, 2 businesses, 4 farms
• Montgomery – 5 businesses
• Pike – 24 homes
• Prentiss – 29 roads
• Smith – 74 homes, 6 businesses, 1 farm
• Sunflower – 1 home, 1 business
• Tishomingo – 9 roads
• Walthall – 182 homes, 1 business, 6 farms, 4 deaths

If citizens have immediate unmet needs, they are encouraged to contact their county emergency management agency. A list of those county contacts can be found online.