60 Hurt as Midday Tornado Tears Into Mississippi Town

A powerful tornado crashed through the east Mississippi town of Newton on Thursday, blowing out windshields, toppling trees and battering stores filled with holiday shoppers.

At least 60 people were injured, two critically, said Amy Carruth, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. No deaths were reported. As evening fell, parts of Newton -- located 60 miles east of Jackson -- were without power and phone service.

“It’s kind of chaotic and it looks pretty bad,” Carruth said. “We’ve had storms all day, and the wind over Newton happened to pick up at the right place at the right time to form the tornado. But it didn’t go on a long path and was very confined. It hit the ground, then went back up into the sky and was gone.”

Most of the residential areas in the old railroad town were spared, but the business district is a shambles.

At the Wal-Mart and the La-Z-Boy furniture plant -- Newton’s largest employer -- big plate-glass windows were blown to bits. Shopping carts at two grocery stores were flung from one end of the parking lot to the other, crashing into vehicles already pummeled by flying debris.

“Trees are across the roads, roofs are partially collapsed, power lines are down and everywhere there’s debris,” said Kim Beatty, who was downtown when the tornado hit. “It’s a mess.”

Beatty was attending a holiday lunch with about 75 Newton city employees when the restaurant’s lights began to flicker. Plates filled with barbecued chicken, potato salad and field peas were quickly forgotten as the sound of rain was replaced with an ominous rumble.

“Someone looked outside the window and yelled, ‘Get down and cover your head.’ That’s how fast it happened,” she said.

At Newton High School, Beatty’s 16-year-old daughter, Lauren, was in the middle of an English exam when the rain began to blow sideways against the windows. “We saw the tornado coming,” she said.

“It was like a big, white swirling cloud. Leaves were blowing and trees were uprooted right outside. It seemed to come out of nowhere. We all ran out into the hallway for cover. We were scared.”

The tornado’s roar died down after one long minute, she said. “We waited for a few minutes, then the principal came down the hall and said, ‘It’s safe to go back into class.’ Our teacher said, ‘Ya’ll have got to calm down and take this test as best you can.’ ”

Lauren collected herself and managed to write three pages on Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy” before class was dismissed.

Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove declared a state of emergency in Newton, clearing the way for the state to assist the town’s 4,000 residents.