Victor McInnis points out where his parents’ car is under debris from a tree at their house at 1417 Wisteria Drive after a storm pulled the tree down around 2 this morning. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[11/24/04]A powerful system of thunderstorms that moved through Vicksburg and Warren County overnight killed three people across the South, but mostly skipped local residents and their properties.

Storm-related deaths were reported in Texas, Louisiana and in Winston County in Mississippi, where several injuries were reported. With winds up to 25 mph, the storms passed through Warren County between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., dropping about 1.47 inches of rain at the Vicksburg Water Treatment Plant.

L.W. “Bump” Callaway, director of Warren County Emergency Management, said eight trees were blown down across the city and county, but there were no reported injuries.

“We were very fortunate last night,” Callaway said. “The potential was there with this very dangerous storm front.”

The Rev. Clifton McInnis, 1417 Wisteria Drive, and his family woke this morning to find a large oak tree had fallen across the driveway on the family car, blocking the garage and front door.

The tree broke in half around 2 a.m. as the heaviest winds of the night passed through Vicksburg

“It snatched an air conditioner out of the window. That’s the only thing I heard. It made a good bit of racket,” said the Rev. Victor McInnis, Clifton McInnis’ son.

The was some roof damage reported to the two-story brick home and a few windows broken. No one was injured.

In Winston County, Civil Defense director Clarence Kelley said the death and two injuries occurred when a tornado slammed into an area about 15 miles southeast of Louisville. The victims were not identified.

Elsewhere in the state, various injuries and damage to homes and businesses were reported, said Lea Stokes, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

“We got the call around 3:35 a.m. that there were three people missing from a home,” Kelley said. “They found two of them and the third one was the fatality.”

Kelley said he did not know if the three were related. He said he understood one of those injured suffered a broken leg.

Stokes said there were also reports of injuries in Smith and Pontotoc counties.

The storm system continued to push east out of the state, bringing cooler temperatures and an end to heavy rain as the storms moved into Alabama and Tennessee. The National Weather Service in Jackson is calling for temperatures to drop into the 30s tonight and Thursday.

Stokes said it was unclear how much damage had occurred in some of the rural areas.

As of 6 this morning, 13,000 Entergy customers statewide had no power, company spokesman Robert Lesley said. Entergy has about 410,000 customers in Mississippi.

Most of the power line damage occurred between Natchez and McComb on U.S. 98, Lesley said. Entergy expected to restore power to all its customers by the end of the day.

Richard Neely, Simpson County Emergency Management director, said early reports indicated four or five homes were damaged and a chicken farm destroyed in his county.

He said fallen trees blocked access to many areas and that crews were already on the scene clearing roads. He said it was unclear if the damage was due to a tornado or straight-line winds.

“Thankfully, we have received no reports of injuries in our county,” Neely said.

Jasper County reported at least one home damaged and a home destroyed, while in Leake County a mobile home was destroyed and two suffered minor damage, Stokes said.

She said there also were reports of some damage in Pontotoc and Smith counties and Washington County was reporting damage to four homes and two businesses.

Tornadoes were reported in Louisiana and Texas causing the deaths of a woman inside a collapsed house in the north-central Louisiana community of Olla and another in Hardin County, Texas.

A tornado and storm struck the Olla area along U.S. Highway 165 around 9 p.m. Tuesday. Olla, with a population of around 1,400, is about 47 miles north of Alexandria.

In St. Tammany Parish, sheriff’s spokesman James Hartman confirmed that a twister touched down in a subdivision north of Slidell early today, damaging as many as 50 homes, at least 10 of them severely.

Hartman said there were reports of a half-dozen people with minor injuries, but no fatalities.

Another tornado apparently hit the Jefferson Parish city of Westwego shortly after 5 this morning, damaging several homes and businesses as well.

The tornado “traveled from the southwest part of the city to the northeast part of the city on an angle, taking down power lines, uprooting trees and tearing off rooftops in its path,” Police Chief Dwayne Munch said. “Fortunately, there were no injuries.”

However, he said there was heavy damage to several businesses in the area, including a grocery store whose roof was ripped off and a drug store whose windows were blown out. He also said there were reports of trees that had fallen on some cars and homes.

In Texas’ Dewitt County, officials called for the evacuation of about 100 homes near the Guadalupe River, said Sheriff Gary Edwards. In Wharton County, about 2,500 people were asked to evacuate homes near the Colorado River.

County Judge John Murrile said most people had complied with the request to leave their homes but officials planned to have 10 boats available for rescues.

“We know we are going to have to go out and get some of these folks with boats because some of them won’t leave,” he said.

A dispatcher for the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department said a woman was killed and three people were injured when a tornado hit about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“Several trailers were wiped out,” said Valerie Stewart, adding there was “pretty extensive damage” throughout the northern part of the county. Four tornadoes were reported.