EF-3 Tornado Rips Through Clinton, MS 4/15/11

      Here is footage I shot from Heatherlynn Circle in Easthaven in Clinton, MS

It started out as pretty much every Friday does for me- waking up early to be on time for my 8am Spanish 4 class. I had my last chapter test in that class at that time and I also had a Physical Meteorology test scheduled for 10am. I had gotten a call from Ethan Huston the day before asking if I would be able to come down to the station and help with severe weather coverage- as all signs were pointing to this being a pretty dangerous event. I really did not want to miss this opportunity as it we are winding down our severe weather season here in Mississippi, so I talked to two of my professors and got my 10am test bumped up to 9am and got cleared to miss my 11am class- it worked out perfectly! I was on the road headed home at 9:07am.

I had been checking radar all morning and it looked like the storms were moving a bit faster than anticipated so I was worried that I was going to miss out on the brunt of the action- boy was I wrong. I had a pretty quiet drive home, just a few rain showers and some lightning and I even passed a few senior BMP students on HWY 25 just north of Louisville. It usually takes me about 2 hours to get home so I was hoping to be at the station around 11am. As I was getting closer to Jackson, I started noticing a storm developing in eastern Louisiana just west of the MS River, but did not really think too much of it at first. As I was passing through Carthage, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Warren and Claiborne Counties for this storm- so I sped up a little bit :)

As the storm intensified into SW Hinds County, things really began to deteriorate. I do not remember exactly where I was, but I saw that a Tornado Warning had been issued for Hinds County, and this storm was heading right for my TV station!

I arrived at the Ross Barnett Reservoir just before 11am and I had gotten word via twitter that a Tornado was on the ground in the city of Clinton and that power flashes were visible from one of WAPT's skycams- that is never a good sign. I was going to run by my house in Ridgeland and wait this storm out as I did not want to try to drive through Jackson with this serious storm. As I got to the Ridgeland side of the Reservoir, I called Heather Sophia because I was having a hard time analyzing radar while trying to drive. She informed me that the storm was headed right for Northpark Mall- about 2 miles from where I was. At this point, I'm not going to lie, I got very worried. I turned around and headed back across the Spillway into Rankin County to get out of the immediate path of the tornado, all still while trying to make it to the station.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the first picture I took with my phone of the radar, was right at 11am- the same time the tornado had touched down and was devastating Clinton:

Here, you can see exactly what we meteorologists look for in tornadic storms- bright greens matched up to bright reds. Again, at this time, we now know that the tornado was already on the ground just to the north of I-20.

Here's what the same storm looked like as it moved through Madison and Ridgeland, just a few moments later:























It wasn't until I arrived at the station that I began to realize the true magnitude of destruction that had been caused in Clinton. We were getting footage from our storm chaser, Vincent Webb, and we could see that cars had been mangled and tossed hundreds of feet, and the roof of the BankPlus on Springridge Road had been ripped off. Vincent also had shot incredible video of the tornado as it touched down just south of I-20 and tracked along Springridge Road across the interstate. Quite possibly the most shocking thing was- we saw dozens of cars driving along the interstate and Springridge inside the vortex like nothing was out of the ordinary! I will  never be able to understand or explain that... Luckily, none of those individuals were killed, and at last check, there were only 2 reports of injuries from Clinton, one of those people had life-threatening injuries. This same storm held together and later spawned an EF-3 in Kemper and Neshoba County, causing devastation to the community of Scooba, MS, near the Alabama line. Several of my friends and teachers from Mississippi State were on this cell and got some incredible photos and video. Unbelievably, this storm continued to track to the NE and dropped a tornado dangerously close to the city of Tuscaloosa, causing damage to the south and southeast sides of the city.

We were very lucky that this was the only major storm to affect the Jackson Metro Area that day, but places to our south, like Crystal Springs, Hazlehurst, Magee, and Mendenhall kept getting hammered by tornadic supercells and large hail over and over again.

Just as we began the 5pm news, our viewing area had finally calmed down- all severe weather warnings had been allowed to expire as the cold front pushed through. Our Chief Meteorologist David Hartman had mentioned that he was wanting to go survey some of the damage and asked if I wanted to go (umm YEA!) After the 6pm news, we loaded up in a news truck and headed towards Clinton....

Before I show you some of the images I captured in some of the most heavily hit neighborhoods, I want to share with you a little bit as to why this particular storm has affected me a lot. You see, Clinton is the place where I grew up- I went to elementary school there, my grandparents lived there, and it's where my mom worked. I spent about 75% of my childhood there. Up until now, the only thing I knew was that the tornado had touched down on Springridge Road near I-20 and was moving NE'ly. Turns out, the storm had a predominantly eastward track, but if it had been due NE, my elementary school and my grandparents house would have been in the direct path.

This is where my dreams of becoming a meteorologist started. This building had a tin roof so every time it rained, you could hear it. Every time there was severe weather, we had to exit the building and seek shelter in the church which is just next door, but practically connected to this building. I suppose my dreams came out of a curiosity of what was happening above me- I could hear it, but I could not see it.

 On Friday, one of the first things that came across my mind was 'I hope the Mt. Salus kids are aware of what is happening and have taken shelter.' I was so worried that something bad had happened. Fortunately for them, the tornado tracked about 1 mile SE of the school. Not only was the tornado near my school, it was also near my grandparents house. After doing some analysis with Google Earth, I calculated that the tornado's direct path was .99 miles from the house we have in Clinton- very remarkable. It is really hard to explain how I feel about it, but I suppose because this storm came so close to disrupting great childhood memories that I have, that's why it is having such a huge impact. I just wonder, if this had been 10 years ago, same time, I would have been sitting in this very building above, wondering what was going on outside.

Some of my friends in Clinton were not as lucky as I was and my thoughts and prayers are with you in this difficult time.

....David and I drove into the Easthaven neighborhood on the east side of Clinton. This is where Eastside Elementary School is located. We were able to actually go inside one family's house that had been almost totally destroyed and I can tell you, it was very emotional to see this and talk to the family, luckily, no one was hurt. Here are a few photos from Easthaven:

This was a life-changing experience for me and it will be something that I talk about for the rest of my life.

I say it all the time, every time there is severe weather, and I get to help cover it, it reaffirms that this is exactly what God has called me to do. Not only is it about gaining a better understanding of His creation, but it is also about saving lives when the weather gets bad. That is one thing that I am starting to grasp. People's lives are in our hands in times like these.


Here is something I was working on in Google Earth which shows a rough path (based on what I observed) of the tornado:

Here, you can really see just how close it was to hitting my school and my house. I am still amazed and so glad that no one was killed in Clinton from this storm. Some other areas that received significant damage were Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, the Queens neighborhood in West Jackson, and areas along Shaw Road and Clinton Blvd. The neighborhood adjacent to Lakeview Dr. and HWY 80, and also the south end of Mt. Salus Road and Hannah Dr saw extensive damage.

Have a great week and God Bless!

Jake R