Update: President Obama declares federal disaster for Hattiesburg area after tornado
Update: Hattiesburg, surrounding areas, hit by long-tracked EF-4 tornado; over 80 injured
Several counties are under a state of emergency after one or more tornadoes tracked across southern Mississippi on Sunday, leaving dozens injured.
Gov. Phil Bryant made the emergency declaration Sunday night after receiving widespread and or major damage reports from tornadoes in Marion, Lamar, Forrest, Lawrence and Wayne counties.
The extensive damage reported in Marion, Lamar and Forrest counties is believed to be the work of a single long-tracked tornado, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
This tornado is believed to have damaged and or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses along its track from around 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, including causing major damage to portions of the University of Southern Miss campus.
Emergency managers reported at least 66 injured including five in Marion, eight in Lamar and 53 in Forrest County, where the most significant damage occurred.
An unknown number of injuries were reported from another destructive tornado in Wayne County, which reportedly touched down around 7:15 p.m. Sunday.
No injuries were reported with an earlier tornado in Lawrence County that caused damage to homes just after 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
The NWS said they are deploying teams to survey the damage across the area on Monday, to determine whether one or more tornadoes were responsible.
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