Residents sift through debris in a destroyed home near Yazoo City, Miss., on Saturday after a tornado passed through. Gov. Haley Barbour said there was "utter obliteration" in parts of Yazoo County.
A massive tornado ripped through the southeast U.S. on Saturday, killing at least 10 people in Mississippi and injuring more than a dozen. Scores of homes were splintered, vehicles were overturned and roads were blocked by toppled trees.
Gov. Haley Barbour said there was "utter obliteration" in parts of Yazoo County, an area known for cotton, catfish, blues music and picturesque hills rising from the flat Mississippi Delta.
Barber became tearful when he described the devastation in Yazoo City, his hometown. "We still have people trapped in houses and cars," he said at an impromptu news conference.
"It reminds me of Katrina," he said, recalling the devastating 2005 hurricane.
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Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said five people were killed in Choctaw County, including three children. Four victims were in Yazoo County and one was in Holmes County.
Barber declared a state of emergency for 17 counties hardest hit by the twister and called up the Mississippi National Guard to protect residents and property.
The path of destruction was several miles wide and so severe that many roads were impassable. Rescue workers were using all-terrain vehicles to search for injured people and take them to hospitals.
Malcolm Gordon, 63, stood with members of his family peering through a broken window of their Yazoo City home. Above them, the roof was gone, a tree lay across part of the house and power lines stretched across the yard. Gordon said he and his wife, Diane, hid in a closet while much of the neighborhood was blown away.
"I'll just bulldoze what's left and start over," he said.
Willie Horton, 78, said he hunkered down in the hallway of his house in rural Holmes County when the storm roared through the area.
"Everything is down. A lot of trees. Big trees," Horton said.
He said his sister-in-law's house down the road was damaged, and a nephew's mobile home was carried away.
"My cousin -- half his barn is gone," Horton said.
The National Weather Service said it appeared the tornado formed in Tallulah, La., early Saturday and swept through Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. It wasn't clear if it maintained contact with the ground or touched down multiple times. Late Saturday, forecasters said the severe weather was continuing to track eastward.
In Madison Parish, La., the tornado destroyed the Tallulah Port near the Mississippi River, damaged a chemical plant and trapped some Tallulah residents in their homes.
Madison Parish Sheriff Steve Cox said all the trapped residents were freed, but several were injured.
"I would say 10-12 homes that I know of were affected," Cox said. "I've never seen anything like it. One minute it's peaceful and quiet, and the next minute, BAM!"
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) says more than 100 homes are uninhabitable after a tornado cut through the state, killing 10 people and injuring dozens.
Barbour said Sunday that about 100 homes in Yazoo County and 38 in Choctaw County are not livable. He says state emergency officials are still trying to determine how many people have been left homeless after Saturday's storm.
He said it is unlikely that a final tally of damage will be available before Tuesday.
When asked how well warning systems worked, the governor said he had no reason to doubt people had enough notice.
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