A Carroll County woman was among 11 Mississippians killed on Easter Sunday by a band of severe storms that swept across the region.
Delma Ree Thomas, 47, was sleeping in her bed Sunday night when large limbs from an oak tree fell across her mobile home in McCarley, pinning her in place, said Mark Stiles, Carroll County coroner.
Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene.
The storm system that began Sunday morning and continued on through the night across the South spun off numerous tornadoes, killed at least 19 people and damaged hundreds of homes. Nearly 1.3 million customers in a path from Texas to Maine lost electricity at some point, according to poweroutages.us.
The incident that took Thomas’ life was initially reported at 10:07 p.m., according to Ken Strachan, Carroll County’s emergency management and civil defense director.
According to Stiles, Thomas’ 16-year-old son was sleeping in a different room in the mobile home when the tree fell and was unhurt. Thomas had another, older son who lived next door. He ran for help after the tree fell, Stiles said.
The high-powered winds damaged numerous other homes in the county and knocked down trees that temporarily blocked all or parts of Mississippi 35 North and U.S. 82, Strachan said.
A portion of the fence of the Carrollton/North Carrollton Volunteer Fire Department is damaged following severe storms that swept through Sunday night.
Fred Randle, director of emergency management for Leflore County, said there were trees down throughout the county but he had received no reports of injuries or major damage to homes.
Susan Bailey, director of Greenwood’s Public Works Department, said numerous trees and tree limbs were knocked down throughout the city.
David O’Bryan, general manager for Delta Electric, said 14,000 customers throughout the utility provider’s 13-county region, including Leflore and Carroll counties, were without power during the heart of the storm.
By Monday morning, the number of customers without electricity had been reduced to 12,000, O’Bryan said. There were 4,900 in Carroll County and 1,000 in Leflore County still without power.
Brian Finnegan, CEO of Greenwood Utilities, could not be immediately reached for comment.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
