Silver City residents work to recover after EF-4 tornado

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - There was a tragic scene in Silver City on Sunday as hundreds of displaced families gather what’s left of their homes after an EF-4 tornado tore through their town Friday.

“It was me, my brother, my three kids, and my uncle in the house, and the windows got blown out, and we were all [huddled up in the hallway]. But the beam came beside, and it stuck through. It came through that wall, and then it went through the outer wall, and it wrapped around the back of the house,” Kevin Younger explained.

As residents begin sorting through what was left of their valuables, they say they are coping with how lucky they are to be alive.

“My best of best friend pulled me in the knick of time. I would have gotten hit by this tree right here where you can clearly see the window busted out and stuff like that. Yea, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here,” Tebin Williams said.

According to Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, 90% of their town is without power, and there are three confirmed deaths and one in critical condition in Silver City.

“I told my wife, I said, we see this all the time on TV, but we’d never dream that it would ever happen to us,” Johnny Carithers said.

Volunteers from neighboring counties and states filled the side of US-49W to provide everything from food and water to diapers and extra clothes to those in need.

Now, residents are working to rebuild their lives and help one another recover from the storm.

“I got some friends just got some empty houses about five, six miles down the road here, and we trying to take everything that’s still halfway decent down there and store it. The insurance people are supposed to be coming back Monday,” Carithers explained.

“We try to get everything cleaned out much as possible and things of that nature. Like I said, make sure everybody got food, water, [and] everything they need. We can’t do much. We can do only what we can,” Williams said.

If you would like to help the people in Humpherys county in their recovery efforts, you can donate here.

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