Survivors of Mississippi tornadoes crawled under furniture and held onto
their kids
[May 08, 2026]
By JACK BROOK, R.J. RICO and KATHY McCORMACK
BOGUE CHITTO, Miss. (AP) — Anunciata Schwebel could only watch in horror
on FaceTime while her friend and tenant slunk into a bathtub to take
cover from one of several tornadoes that slammed into Mississippi just
after sunset Wednesday.
Her friend screamed that the windows were breaking. Schwebel could see
on her screen the devastation to the cluster of cottages she owned in
the town of Purvis — walls and roofs ripped away, her tenants huddled in
their bathrooms.
“We could see a line of people sitting in their tubs,” Schwebel said
Thursday. “We thought people were dead.”
Yet, for a second time in less than a month, a big burst of tornadoes
caused no deaths. Authorities estimated that 500 homes were damaged
across five counties Wednesday and said at least 17 people were injured.
The powerful storms spawned at least three tornadoes across the bottom
half of Mississippi that could be seen on weather radar, meteorologists
said, possibly more.
Tornado flipped home and ‘scattered everybody’
Survivors told stories of crawling under furniture while winds tore off
the roof and of hiding in a closet, holding on to a child. At Coaltown
Baptist Church in Purvis, members hunkered down in a hallway, singing
and praying until the storm passed.
A dozen people were hurt at a trailer park in the small community of
Bogue Chitto, in rural Lincoln County, said Scott Simmons, a
spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Most of the two dozen homes were flattened into heaps of splintered
boards and twisted metal. People picked through the debris Thursday
morning under cloudy skies as a chain saw buzzed in the background.
Krystal Miller and six others — including babies as young as 4 weeks old
— grabbed a Bible and sheltered in their hallway when the tornado sent
their home cartwheeling through the air.
“We just flipped, and it threw us all out,” she said. “It scattered
everybody out. ... I can’t find the Bible.”
Her young son was in the hospital for monitoring and another child was
injured in the face, she said.
“The trailer is in pieces but we made it out,” Miller said. “I'm feeling
grateful.”
Max Mahaffey was with his 59-year-old grandmother and watching TikTok
videos on his phone when they realized the tornado was bearing down.
They ran to the bathroom, but when the roof was torn off, they crawled
to the living room and hid under a couch, he said.
“You heard screaming, glass breaking, horns honking — everything,” said
the 15-year-old.
Survivors grateful to be alive
Dmell Burnes didn't realize his home was in the tornado’s path until
seconds before it struck. The house shook as he covered his 11-year-old
daughter in his arms, but the frame inside the closet where they
protected themselves held even as the home’s walls and roof came apart.
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People stand among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer
park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado
cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“It was one of the most scariest moments of my life. Me and my
daughter were praying,” Burnes said while standing on what was left
from his trailer. “We’re just grateful to be alive.”
Residents dug out jackets, school backpacks, Bibles and a watch —
whatever was salvageable.
A storm chaser walking through the debris early Thursday heard a
meow but feared the worst when the cries stopped after a few minutes
of searching. But after picking through insulation, Ashton Lemley
found a tiny kitten, hiding between two wooden posts.
“I’ve been in these situations so many times,” he said. “I don’t try
to get overly emotional. But it is very heartbreaking to see any
type of animal or human go through something like that.”
Debris closed interstate in southern Mississippi
National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Lamb said at least
three tornadoes caused significant damage. Investigators plan to
survey other areas to determine if more touched down.
“Pray for Mississippi,” Gov. Tate Reeves posted online, saying the
state Emergency Management Agency was coordinating response efforts.
Debris from the storms closed Interstate 55 and many other roads in
Lincoln County. The governor said a volunteer rescue group was
providing a 50-person shelter and supplies to the county, which
reported at least 200 damaged homes.
Lamar County to the southeast reported about 275 homes damaged,
according to the Emergency Management Agency.
Alisha Marbury was teary eyed as she surveyed the wreckage in Bogue
Chitto. Still, she counted her community blessed since it appeared
no one had died. Many of the people she knew at the trailer park had
been away at work, she said.
“God spared us,” Marbury added. “Houses and homes and cars and stuff
are replaceable, but your life ain’t.”
___
Rico reported from Atlanta and McCormack reported from Concord, New
Hampshire. Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and
Corey Williams in Detroit contributed.
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