Storm reports for February 23, 2019

An EF3 tornado crossed Columbus, Mississippi, from about 5:15 to 5:31 p.m. CST on February 23, 2019, with peak winds near 137 mph on a path 10 miles long and up to a quarter mile wide.¹ Trees fell on many homes on the east side of downtown Columbus and caused major roof damage, windows were blown out of homes along Railroad Street, and several manufactured buildings near Tuscaloosa Road lost most of their outer walls and roofs.¹ The National Weather Service survey lists one death and 19 injuries.¹ The Commercial Dispatch reported that 275 homes and 38 businesses in Lowndes County were damaged or destroyed, with $9.3 million in damage to public property.²

Earlier, around 4:40 p.m. CST, an EF2 tornado with peak winds near 115 mph crossed from Alcorn County into Tishomingo County in north Mississippi and did major damage to several well-built homes northwest of Burnsville near Highway 72.³ NOAA's Storm Events Database lists $1.25 million in property damage in Tishomingo County and $250,000 in Alcorn County, where the tornado damaged a home's roof and several manufactured homes.^3,4 Before dawn on February 24, an EF1 tornado with 90 mph winds hit southwest Coweta County, Georgia, where falling trees damaged the roofs of two homes, and the database lists $400,000 in damage.⁵