**UNLESS AVAILABLE/SOURCED FROM A GOVERNMENT WEBSITE OR GIVEN OUR EXPLICIT PERMISSION, NO IMAGES OR OTHER MEDIA FROM THIS SUMMARY ARE TO BE REDISTRIBUTED IN ANY WAY. SOME OF THIS MATERIAL WE HAVE OBTAINED UNDER VERY SPECIFIC PERMISSIONS TO FEATURE. WE WILL TAKE ACTION IF ANY REPOSTINGS OR REDISTRIBUTIONS ARE FOUND OF THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY CONTENT.**

On February 21, 1971, the Mississippi delta region was terrorized by one of the worst disasters in its history. Three massive tornadoes, along with dozens of smaller and undocumented twisters, raked across eastern Mississippi with catastrophic results. At least 119 lives were claimed, and another two were killed the following day in North Carolina. All told, nearly 1500 were injured, with small communities wiped from the map. As of 2023, only the 1974 Super Outbreak, the 2011 Super Outbreak, and the Joplin disaster have since surpassed this loss of life in the United States.

The three maelstroms responsible for most of the destruction have been carefully detailed in the summaries linked below. For those who are not Tornado Talk members, brief descriptions are also provided. This page also contains statistics, discrepancies, a list of the fatalities, and a note about the 2023 Rolling Fork EF4. We hope that the history and personal stories gathered in these summaries preserve the remembrance of this historic tragedy.

Summaries

A map illustrating the three main tornado paths of the outbreak.

The Inverness Tornado Series

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The annihilated Lenore property. NASA Earth Resources Laboratory aerial imagery taken February 23, 1971.

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Utter destruction in Delta City. NASA Earth Resources Laboratory aerial imagery taken February 23, 1971.

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Devastation across Inverness. NASA Earth Resources Laboratory aerial imagery taken February 23, 1971.

The Cary Tornado

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Pulverized buildings and vehicles at the center of Evanna Plantation headquarters. Photo provided by James French.

The Little Yazoo Tornado

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Destruction across the heart of the Little Yazoo community. NASA Earth Resources Laboratory aerial imagery taken February 23, 1971.

A Retrospective on the 2023 Rolling Fork EF4 from Nelson Tucker

During the late evening hours of March 24, 2023, a catastrophic, high-end EF4 barrelled through Sharkey County. In the decades since the 1971 outbreak, most of the survivors we corresponded and interviewed had moved from rural areas across the region to the county seat of Rolling Fork. This was the direct epicenter of the carnage. A total of 17 lives were lost. A majority of our contributors were affected. Some lost their homes. Friends and neighbors were killed. Before the tornado hit, I reached out to as many of these people as I could to ensure no one was caught off-guard.

While none of these individuals were physically harmed, this is the worst tornado event to hit the region since the 1971 outbreak. The recovery process will take many years, but since this tragedy Rolling Fork has shown impressive resilience and strength. This disaster serves as a reminder that while memories can fade of events long ago, nature’s fury has and will continue to remain a part of life in the delta. Even more than that, it demonstrates the humanity and resilience of these communities across generations.

An EF-Scale polygon map in Google Earth showing a comparison of the 1971 and 2023 tornado tracks.

Overviews

The Inverness Tornado

Stats

Path length: 103.52 miles

Width:  2,000 yards (1.14 miles)

Fatalities:  48

Injuries:  510

Rating:  F5

Counties:  Madison, East Carroll (LA) / Issaquena, Sharkey, Washington, Humphreys, Sunflower, Leflore (MS)

Synopsis

This tornado began at 3:08 pm CST, around 2.9 miles SE of Delhi in northeastern Louisiana. It quickly became significant, tearing through a grove along Highway 80 and slamming into the isolated Lenore dwelling. In a moment, the house was gone, lofted and broken into tiny fragments. Of the eleven family members present, ten were killed, thrown into a bayou across the road.

The twister continued over minimally populated farmland from Madison Parish into East Carroll Parish, eventually blowing through several residences 4.5 miles SSW of Transylvania.

Next, the tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Issaquena County, MS. It immediately struck the Lockwood Plantation, leveling most of the estate. Soon after, the vortex reached a maximum diameter of 2,000 yards (1.14 miles). 85-year-old Delia Booker was killed near the county border west of Rolling Fork before it moved into Sharkey County.

Several miles to the northeast it encountered Cameta Plantation. A large cotton gin was crushed to a pulp, and the surrounding store and nearby houses annihilated. Three more lost their lives. In far northern Sharkey County, Delta City took a direct hit. The result was catastrophic. An analysis of aerial imagery revealed about 12 residences damaged and 31 destroyed, some ground down to just foundations. Most businesses were also lost, and eight individuals perished.

The path then moved through sparsely populated portions of southeastern Washington and northwestern Humphreys counties. A handful of isolated farmsteads were leveled, leading to two fatalities. In southern Sunflower County, Mound Lake plantation was destroyed, resulting in two more deaths.

With a population over 1,100, Inverness was the largest locality to be directly hit in the outbreak. Roughly 90% of the predominantly African-American southwestern portion of town was destroyed, along with Inverness Elementary School. Scores of businesses in downtown were put beyond repair, and numerous other homes further northeast left in tatters.

According to the February 23, 1971 Enterprise-Tocsin, about 250 residences in the town were affected. Of those, more than 200 were either severely damaged or lost. Of the town’s 86 businesses, churches, and public buildings, 44 were destroyed and 26 heavily damaged.

After traversing more rural land, the twister encountered Moorhead. While the destruction was not of the same severity as at Inverness, the community was left in disarray. After striking the town, the tornado weakened further and dissipated in western Leflore County, roughly 4.1 miles SW of Schlater near 5:10 pm CST.

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) databases, as well as the February 1971 Storm Data Publication (SDP), Significant Tornadoes, 1680-1991 by Thomas Grazulis, Natural Disaster Survey Report: Mississippi Delta Tornadoes of February 21, 1971, and our detailed analysis of all available resources and found the following differences:

Path Length:

  • The SPC lists a path length of 109.2 miles, with start and end coordinates of 32.39 / -91.47 and 33.63 / -90.35.
  • The SDP and Grazulis list a path length of 110 miles.
  • The Survey Report notes a continuous path of 102 miles.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage indicates a total track length, accounting for all twists and turns, of about 103.52 miles. We have corrected start and end coordinates of 32.4196 / -91.4702 and 33.5923 / -90.3890.
 

Maximum Width:

  • The SPC and NCDC list a maximum width of 500 yards.
  • Grazulis lists a maximum width of 600 yards.
  • The Survey Report describes taking one measurement along a road perpendicular to the track of 0.60 miles, or 1,056 yards.
  • The SDP gave a width of up to 660 yards on the Louisiana side, with nothing listed for the Mississippi portion.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage (including aerial imagery) indicates a maximum width of 2,000 yards (1.14 miles).
 

Fatalities:

  • The SPC and NCDC list 47 fatalities.
  • The SDP lists 45 fatalities.
  • Grazulis lists 46 fatalities.
  • Our research indicates that this tornado was responsible for a total of 48 fatalities.
 

Injuries:

  • The SPC and NCDC list 510 injuries, which is the total we have included.
  • Grazulis lists 400 injuries.
 

Time:

  • The SPC lists a start time of 2:50 pm CST.
  • The NCDC gives a time of occurrence from 2:50 pm CST to 4:55 pm CST.
  • The SDP gives a time of occurrence from 2:50 pm CST to 5:10 pm CST.
  • Grazulis lists a start time of 2:50 pm CST.
  • We concur with the Survey Report’s time of occurrence, which was from 3:08 pm CST to 5:10 pm CST.
 

Monetary Cost:

  • There are no monetary costs listed in official databases. We have not determined a probable figure. This is because the most devastating portions of the track were in the same counties as the Cary tornado. This, combined with only incomplete and sparse figures being available, made an accurate determination infeasible.

The Cary Tornado

Stats

Path length: 114.80 miles

Width:  2,140 yards (1.22 miles)

Fatalities:  57

Injuries:  795

Rating:  F4

Counties:  Issaquena, Sharkey, Humphreys, Leflore, Carroll, Grenada, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha (MS)

Synopsis

This tornado began at approximately 4:05 pm CST, about 2.9 miles ENE of Fitler, MS. It quickly approached the community of Cary, first striking Evanna Plantation on the southern fringe. The destruction here was easily among the most extreme in the entire Delta Outbreak. All structures were swept away, mostly ground to small fragments strewn near and far. Cars and vehicles were smashed, rolled, bounced, or completely lofted hundreds of yards. The worst were virtually unrecognizable. The ground was scoured, and trees were shredded of bark by all manner of shrapnel.

Another primary feature of southern Cary was the Bellgrade Lumber Company. Most of the workers lived in the adjacent Bellgrade Quarters to the south. This poorer, packed neighborhood was predominantly the African-American portion of town, and it was almost entirely razed. A total of 13 died at Cary.

The rest of the path through Sharkey was very rural, and we know little about the twister during that time. It continued northeast into Humphreys County, destroying a dozen residences in the Gooden Lake area and killing seven. The violent twister passed just 2.3 miles west of Belzoni, temporarily cutting power and communication. The Castleman estate was then destroyed, along with a few scattered dwellings in northeastern portions of the County.

In southwestern Leflore County, the twister erased the small community of Pugh City. Consisting of about 50 homes and a number of stores, almost everything was either irreparable or obliterated. Around 26 died in the region, most at Pugh City. A few were probably from rural spots further upwind or downwind, but were lumped into this tally by local sources. Pugh City could not recover, and soon ceased to exist.

The tornado grazed the southeastern side of Swiftown. The three residences unlucky enough to sustain direct hits were eradicated, and almost all buildings suffered some form of damage or were crushed by trees. Two died. The next several miles saw the vortex paralleling and eventually crossing north of Highway 7. Every single structure along this thoroughfare from Swiftown to Morgan City was eviscerated. The amount of dwellings lost numbered around 35.

Morgan City was and remains a small town with a population of just over 200. The central part of the community was able to escape with not much more than minor roofing loss, but the northwestern side was not so fortunate. Almost a dozen residences were destroyed, along with several notable structures. At least three lives were taken here, though since some were likely mixed into the Pugh City total, it could have been as high as six.

The twister continued deeper into central Leflore County, hitting occasional groups of structures. Around 2.9 miles WNW of downtown Greenwood, the tornado passed over Highway 82, killing two in their vehicle. The Money area in northeastern Leflore near the Yalobusha River was hard hit, resulting in another four dead.

The tornado only churned through the extreme northwestern corner of Carroll County for a mile before entering southwestern Grenada County. USGS aerial imagery from years later still showed an impressively wide swath of entirely razed forest. Here, we decided on a conservative maximum width of 2,140 yards (1.22 miles), though this could be an underestimation due to the absence of finer-scale imagery close after the event. A March 19, 1971, Red Cross damage report stated that within the county, 26 were injured; seven dwellings were destroyed; 20 dwellings were damaged; 14 farm buildings were destroyed; and ten farm buildings with major damage.

In southeastern Tallahatchie County, it trekked less than a mile southeast of Cascilla, causing significant damage across the area. The February 24, 1972 Mississippi Sun recounted that during the ten miles spent in the county, 11 houses, five trailers, and one church were “destroyed beyond repair.”

The southern and eastern outskirts of Tillatoba in Yalobusha County were next in line, with a half dozen properties in the locality hard-hit. From here, it made a slight jog further east into the little-inhabited Holly Springs National Forest. At approximately 6:05 pm CST, dissipation occurred 7.2 miles northeast of Tillatoba.

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) databases, as well as the February 1971 Storm Data Publication (SDP), Significant Tornadoes, 1680-1991 by Thomas Grazulis, Natural Disaster Survey Report: Mississippi Delta Tornadoes of February 21, 1971, and our detailed analysis of all available resources and found the following differences:

 

Path Length:

  • The SPC and NCDC list a path length of 202.1 miles, with start and end coordinates of 32.70 / -91.02 and 35.03 / -88.92.
  • The SDP lists a path length in Mississippi of 198 miles, and continues the track further into Tennessee.
  • Grazulis states that a family of tornadoes tracked for 160 miles.
  • The Survey Report lists a path length of 159 miles, but also includes that a 15-20 mile segment was not continuous with occasional skips.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage indicates a total track length, accounting for all twists and turns, of 114.80 miles. We have corrected start and end coordinates of 32.7340 / -90.9856 and 34.0538 / -89.8023. It is worth noting that we found evidence through damage reports and aerial imagery of multiple significant tornadoes that continued near and past Oxford into northern Mississippi, which were lumped into a single track by other sources.
 

Maximum Width:

  • The SPC and NCDC list a maximum width of 100 yards.
  • Grazulis lists a maximum width of 800 yards.
  • The SDP and Survey Report do not list a maximum width.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage (including aerial imagery) indicates a maximum width of at least 2,140 yards (1.22 miles).
 

Fatalities:

  • The SPC, NCDC, SDP, and Grazulis list 58 fatalities.
  • Our research delved into every known individual that was killed, which is explored in the summary. In one case, a person from Sharkey County attributed by most newspapers to this tornado was actually killed in a different location by the prior F5 (the Inverness tornado). Our efforts indicate a total of 57 fatalities.
 

Injuries:

  • The SPC and NCDC list 795 injuries, which is the total we have included.
  • Grazulis lists 700 injuries.
 

Time:

  • The SPC lists a start time of 4:00 pm CST.
  • The NCDC gives a time of occurrence from 4:00 pm CST to 8:15 pm CST.
  • The SDP gives a time of occurrence from 4:00 pm CST to 8:30 pm CST.
  • Grazulis lists a start time of 4:00 pm CST.
  • The Survey Report gives a time of occurrence from 4:00 pm CST to 8:23 pm CST.
  • Analysis of available resources gives a time of occurrence from 4:05 pm CST to 6:05 pm CST.
 

Monetary Cost:

  • There are no monetary costs listed in official databases. We have also not determined a probable figure. This is because the most devastating portions of the track were in the same counties as the Inverness tornado. This, combined with only incomplete and sparse figures being available for many areas, made an accurate determination infeasible.

The Little Yazoo Tornado

Stats

Path length: 72.75 miles

Width:  1,510 yards (0.86 miles)

Fatalities:  12

Injuries:  120

Rating:  F4

Counties:  Warren, Hinds, Yazoo, Holmes (MS)

Synopsis

This tornado began to form at approximately 5:02 pm CST, around 3.7 miles east of Antioch. It rapidly intensified, with at least a half dozen scattered dwellings near Bovina Cut-Off and Duncan Roads were total losses. Based on what little information is known, one of these was the location of two fatalities.

After slicing through several miles of unpopulated woods, the twister crossed Interstate 20. In the vicinity, three residences, four chicken houses, and a church were destroyed. The next 18 miles of the path saw no structures directly hit. The tornado wound deep through forested wilderness. It crossed the Big Black River into Hinds County and passed back again into Warren County before moving into Yazoo County.

West of Bentonia, a handful of residences were destroyed, killing six. The Little Yazoo community on Highway 40 was ravaged, with their church, every business, and most nearby dwellings torn down. Another four lost their lives.

For the next 19 miles of the path through central and northern Yazoo County, there are few details available. According to a Red Cross survey list of property owners in the February 25th, 1971 Yazoo Herald, at least 72 residences were damaged or destroyed across the general communities of Roadside, Benton, and Midway. The track was likely still continuous based on both analysis of coarse USGS aerial photos from late 1971-1974 and a few property owners that could be plotted.

In Holmes County, three houses and three barns were heavily damaged or demolished. The tornado finally dissipated at approximately 6:20 pm CST, around 1.9 miles SW of Lexington.

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) databases, as well as the February 1971 Storm Data Publication (SDP), Significant Tornadoes, 1680-1991 by Thomas Grazulis, Natural Disaster Survey Report: Mississippi Delta Tornadoes of February 21, 1971, and our detailed analysis of all available resources and found the following differences:

Path Length:

  • The SPC and NCDC list a path length of 65.2 miles, with start and end coordinates of 32.33 / -90.73 and 33.10 / -90.10.
  • The SDP and Survey Report list a path length of 69 miles.
  • Grazulis lists a path length of 70 miles.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage indicates a total track length, accounting for all twists and turns, of 72.75 miles. We have corrected start and end coordinates of 32.2440 / -90.7868 and 33.0884 / -90.0691.
 

Maximum Width:

  • The SPC lists a maximum width of 10 yards.
  • The NCDC lists a maximum width of 33 yards.
  • Grazulis lists a maximum width of 800 yards (0.45 miles).
  • The Survey Report describes taking one measurement along a road perpendicular to the track of 0.60 miles, or 1,056 yards.
  • The SDP does not list a maximum width.
  • Detailed analysis of the damage (including aerial imagery) indicates a maximum width of 1,510 yards (0.86 miles).
 

Fatalities:

  • The SPC/NCDC/Grazulis list 13 fatalities.
  • The SDP lists 12 fatalities.
  • Our research found that there were at least 12 fatalities, with two more names mentioned in newspapers that we were unable to verify.
 

Injuries:

  • The SPC/NCDC list 182 injuries.
  • Grazulis lists 200 injuries.
  • Newspaper reports and Red Cross tallies provide a wide range of possible injury totals. The latter source includes exact county numbers. While we give an injury tally of 120, this is a rough estimation and not precise. We believe the 182 number is too high to be feasible because of the low population hit. It’s possible that hospitalizations within the overall counties were included in that figure, inflating the number of seriously injured transferred from other overwhelmed regions.
 

Time:

  • The SPC lists a start time of 5:06 pm CST.
  • The NCDC gives a time of occurrence from 5:06 pm CST to 6:05 pm CST.
  • The SDP and Survey Report give a time of occurrence from 5:06 pm CST to 6:16 pm CST.
  • Grazulis lists a start time of 5:06 pm CST.
  • Analysis of available resources gives a time of occurrence from 5:02 pm CST to approximately 6:20 pm CST.
 

Monetary Cost:

  • There are no monetary costs listed in official databases. The February 17, 1972 edition of The Yazoo Herald stated, “Federal officials estimated shortly after the storm that between $1.5 and $2 million damage had been done in Yazoo County.” After factoring in the unknown but likely much lesser costs from Warren and Holmes Counties, $2 million was considered the most reasonable amount.

In Loving Memory

All fatalities from the Rome, MS Tornado (2):

Near Rome:

Ollie Hunt, 55

Jerry McNutt, 1 month

All fatalities from the Delhi-Inverness, LA-MS tornado (48)

At Delhi (LA):

Verda Carter, 18

Orlando Carter, 21 days

Reginald Evans, 3

Dennis Lenore, 10

Doris Lenore, 13

Ella Lenore, 42

Patrick Lenore, 8

Patricia Lenore, 8

Phyllis Lenore, 3

Terry Lenore, 9

West of Rolling Fork (MS):

Delia Booker, 85

At Cameta Plantation (MS):

Tyree Sardin, 34

Lillian Murray, 74

Saul Hendricks, 66

At Delta City (MS):

Jesse Ausborn, 61

Ruby Ausborn, 49

Leborn Crawford, 54

Sam Crawford, 58

Sharon Pasco, 9 months

Euna Price, 68

Charlie Hogan, 28

Emmett Crawford, 85

West of Isola (MS):

Unknown

Unknown

At Mound Lake (MS):

Unknown

Unknown

At Inverness (MS):

Kate Switzer Adair, 74

Ella B. Ames, 44

Richard Banks

Ollie Daniel, 14

Mrs. Duke, 50s

Jessie Goodman, 55

Josie Goodman, about 60

Jenelle Haywood, early 50s

Patsy Henley, 78

Doris Herring, 17

Larry Herring, 15

Roma Herring, 47

Leslie Hyde, 40s-50s

Billy Jones, 13

Ethel Jones, 56

Curtis Jones

Billy Langston, 7

10-year old son of Essie B. Langston

Carrie Perryman, 78

At Moorhead (MS):

Mary Pepper, 7

Thomas Pepper, 36

Virginia Pepper, 31

All fatalities from the Cary-Pugh City-Tillatoba, MS tornado (57):

At Cary:

Lendora Collier, about 54

Georgia Crawford, 66

Mary Davis, 73

Juanita Kaye French, 24

Juanita Kaye French’s unborn child, 8 ½ months gestation

Julie French, 18 days

Dora Johnson, 42

Jessie Johnson, 44

Ed Kelly III, 11

Jeannette Miller, 3 months

Robert Kelly, 5

Archie Sanders, about 41

Howard Sanders, 15

At Gooden Lake:

James Gibbs, 78

Katie Jackson, 66

Linda Jackson, 10

Ann McGee

Millie Robinson, about 40

William Tatum, 25

Patricia Williams, 12

At Pugh City (and nearby areas):

Mary Cobbin, 68

McKinley Cobbin, about 58

Virginia Cobbin

Victoria Cooper, 66

Ruby Foster

Annie Griffin

Beatrice Hemingway, 56

Robert Hemingway, 11

Alice Hubbard

Odessa Jones

Aretha Leflore, 14

Lynette Leflore, child

Rosie Leflore, 39

Thomas Leflore, 12

Robirdia Leggitt, 68

Gencie Lockett, 12

Lee Lockett, 11

Mable Matthews, about 80

Robert Monroe, 45

Della Nelson, about 59

Doris Pittman, 11

Lula Bell Ramsey, 58

Robert Ramsey, 58

Betty Stokes, about 2

James Stokes, about 7

Willie Young, 50

At Swiftown:

Ruby Monroe

Jimmie Weaver Jr., 14

At Morgan City:

James (Robert) Gates, 70

Arthur Jones, about 19

Raymond White, 62

At Greenwood:

James Shipp, 52

Lula Shipp, 52

At Money:

Emma Johnson, 74

Eliza Pernell, about 25

Frankie Towers, 54

Larena Towers, 15

All fatalities from the Little Yazoo, MS Tornado (12):

Near Bovina:

Fred Clyde

Lucille Clyde

Near Little Yazoo:

Charles Brumfield, 53

Pruitt Berry, 64

Jeffery Holmes, 4

Benjamin Hagger, 5

Garnett Brown, 71

William Brown, 16

Pearlena Thornton

Albert “Doc” Reed, 59

Mary Reed, 70

Clemmie Thornton, 71

All fatalities from the Fayetteville, NC Tornado (2)

Near Fayetteville:

Marguerite Davis, 66

Wilma Ray, 42

Sources:

The Storm Prediction Center

February 1971 Storm Data Publication

Grazulis, T.P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes, 1680-1991. St. Johnsbury, Vt: The Tornado Project Of Environmental Films. Page 1121.

NCDC Storm Events Database

Google Earth

Ancestry

Find a Grave

“Mississippi Delta Tornadoes of February 21, 1971; a Report to the Administrator.” n.d. Repository.library.noaa.gov.

Newspapers.com

USGS

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