Mississippi tornado: One-year-old girl dies alongside dad after twister destroys family home as death toll hits 26
A ONE year old girl was killed alongside her dad after a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through Mississippi.
The ferocious storm consisted of at least a dozen twisters that blitzed through the Midwest on Friday night and has now caused 26 deaths.
The tornado tore down the family home of Ethan Herndon, 33, and Riley Herndon, 1 and the pair devastatingly lost their lives.
Ethan’s wife, Elizabeth, and their two other children, Brantley, 7, and Aubrey, 4, were left seriously injured when the tornado struck but managed to survive.
The trail of destruction that has been left behind is catastrophic, as the powerful whirlwinds downed powerlines and pulled homes from the ground.
A GoFundMe has been set up by a Mississippi resident for the Herndon family, following the tragic loss of Ethan and Riley.
“This sweet family is physically and emotionally shattered,” the fundraiser’s description reads.
“They have suffered the most painful and terrifying loss any of us can imagine, and their needs are obvious and great”.
According to the page, Elizabeth suffered multiple injuries including a broken arm and leg as well as a dislocated hip.
Brantley, the oldest child, was airlifted to LeBonheur Hospital immediately with broken bones, a lacerated liver, and a punctured lung.
The second oldest, Aubrey, has now also been moved to LeBonheur with multiple lacerations, a broken elbow and a possible broken ankle.
The GoFundMe was set up on Saturday morning with a donation goal of $30,000 – but after only 15 hours of the page being live, it has received over $91,500.
One anonymous donator gave $10,000 to the cause.
The page has been flooded with words of encouragement and condolences to the Hendon family after the devastating loss of the dad and daughter.
One wrote: “Deeply sorry for the loss this family has suffered and healing prayers for the injured family members”.
Another commented: “I don’t know this family personally but prayers going up for all of them. May God comfort and wrap His loving arms around them and hold them close during this tragic time”.
One of the most destructive of the dozen tornadoes ripped through at least 170 miles of Mississippi and the National Weather Service sent emergency crews to assess the extent of the damage caused yesterday.
Drone footage shows buildings torn to shreds as the ferocious twister downed everything in its path.
The footage from Rolling Fork captured demolished homes and destroyed vehicles trapped in rubble with household items scattered outside.
Residents have been seen examining the damage to their property looking for valuables they could salvage.
One woman whose mother lived in Rolling Fork, where the first tornado touched down, described the painful moments she arrived at the scene and witnessed damage, Daily Mail reports.
Lequita Barfield said she heard a tornado had blitzed through her mom’s home town and began panicking when she didn’t answer.
The daughter explained her mother lived in a mobile home and “just got a feeling that something was wrong”.
“I jumped in the car, and I got on the road,” she said.
Lequita recalls the moment she arrived in Rolling Fork to find everything “just gone” as she walked through the vast stretch of debris to her mom’s house.
In the destruction, Lequita’s mom’s home had been flipped upside down.
She then does on to explain how a man led her to an alleyway where there was an unmoving body lying under a mattress.
The grieving daughter told local media that she tried pulling her mom’s body out, but to no avail.
‘My mom is gone,’ she said. ‘My mom is gone.’
Early yesterday morning, the White House offered full federal support for “those who have lost loved ones” due to the severe weather.
President Joe Biden said that he and his wife Jill are “praying for those who have lost loved ones” and “for those whose loved ones are missing”.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency were reached out to by Biden following the devastation, where they later tweeted: “Following last night’s devastating tornadoes, we are coordinating with @MSEMA officials to support affected communities.
“We are working closely with our state partners to assess the impacted areas. Our thoughts are with those communities and their loved ones.”