Hurricane Katrina 's damaging winds and tornadoes

Mississippi suffered the most overall in damage and destruction from Hurricane Katrina.

Over half the state sustained significant damage, with 49 counties out of 82 counties declared disaster areas, shortly after the storm.  (The entire state was declared a disaster area, October 27, 2005)

Of course, the hardest hit areas were across the coastal areas, where entire communities were unrecognizable, after record storm surge destroyed many buildings, along with the extreme winds..

Katrina's hurricane force winds progressed well into parts of Central Mississippi.

Winds gusted over 110 mph in parts of Jones County in Southeast Mississippi, with winds gusting up over 75 mph in Oktibbeha County in North Central Mississippi, where the center of Hurricane Katrina tracked.

Even counties outside of these areas received scattered damage from Katrina.

Even though, widespread damaging  winds were the cause of most of the damage across the state, tornadoes were also reported.

The National Weather Service confirmed 11 tornadoes  from Hurricane Katrina.

These tornadoes were associated with the outer bands ahead of northward moving storms.

Most of the tornadoes occurred across Lauderdale, Kemper, Newton, and Neshoba counties, with 5 of the 11 occurring in Neshoba county alone.

The majority of the tornadoes were brief and on the ground for 2-4 miles.

Additionally, all of the damage was confined to fallen trees and minor damage to roofs and out buildings.

Most of the tornadoes were rated F1 and were on the low end of the scale.

 However, 2 tornadoes were a bit stronger and produced F2 type tree damage.

The first F2 tornado occurred just north northeast of Decatur in central Newton county. Here many very large trees were uprooted or snapped and laid in all directions.

The second F2 occurred in southeast Neshoba county just south of the house community off highway 19. Again...numerous large trees were uprooted and snapped. No injuries or fatalities occurred with any tornadoes.

(National Weather Service Radar as Katrina progressed north (Central Mississippi))

(Jackson National Weather Service documented tornado tracks)

It was reported shortly after the storm, that nearly the entire state lost power at some point during the storm.

It would take weeks and in some cases along the Gulf Coast, months to restore power.