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Your Call

Mississippi tornado kills 25 & destroys the town of Rolling Fork

Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger
Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger

On this edition of Your Call, we discuss Mississippi's deadly tornado, which ripped through the Delta region and parts of Alabama on Friday.

At least 25 people have died in Mississippi and one person died in Alabama. More than 1,600 homes were damaged or destroyed.

The 2,000 person town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi was decimated. Homes were completely leveled, cars were crushed, and every building in the town has extensive damage. The aerial footage is devastating.

Officials say long term recovery will likely take years. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the US and in the majority-Black Delta region, many people work paycheck to paycheck in jobs tied to agriculture, according to the Los Angeles Times. Two counties hit hardest by the storms, Sharkey and Humphreys, have poverty rates of 35 percent and 33 percent.

Guest:

Ty Pinkins, US Senate candidate, attorney, and founder of The Pyramid Project from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where he was raised

Web Resources:

Los Angeles Times: Mississippi tornado victims wonder, ‘How can we rebuild?’

The Guardian: Mississippi tornado recovery will likely take years, officials say

NBC: Mississippi tornado survivors come together after loss

AP: High tornado death toll in Mississippi like losing family

The Washington Post: For some Rolling Fork residents, recovery from Mississippi tornado is uncertain

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.
Bee Soll is a producer with Your Call at KALW, and a producer, writer, and editor at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. She is a former reporter for Crosscurrents and contributor at KPFA Radio.