Mississippi town hit by tornado

NEWTON, Miss. -- A tornado smashed into stores jammed with holiday shoppers and flipped over trucks Thursday, injuring about 50 people, at least two critically, authorities said.

"We've got major damage here. It's a mess," said Hamp Beatty, mayor of this eastern Mississippi town of about 3,700 people, 60 miles east of Jackson. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove said there were no reports of deaths.

He declared a state of emergency and directed the Mississippi National Guard to assist local authorities. Emergency personnel from nearby counties also were sent in to help.

A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Amy Carruth, said two people were critically injured.

About half of the 50 people sent to Newton Regional Hospital suffered relatively minor injuries, said administrator Tim Thomas. Other injuries included fractures and cuts, he said.

High wind peeled back the metal walls of Newton's Wal-Mart, tore letters off the building's sign and crushed a nearby Subway sandwich shop. The windows were blown out of the Wal-Mart storefront and nearly every car in the parking lot.

Some vehicles were overturned or smashed against utility poles, and torn-away roofs, Christmas tree decorations and tree branches were scattered along the roads approaching downtown.

"It looked like it was going to take the house away," said Alice Johnson, who was visiting her daughter when the storm hit. The tornado toppled trees in the yard but spared the house.

"I saw nothing but white clouds and it sounded like a train," said Quincy Green, who watched the storm from his window.

Beatty said there also was damage to the town's La-Z-Boy furniture plant, a fire station and other businesses.

Denise Smith, who told CNN she was inside the Wal-Mart when the storm hit, said the tornado hit the front of the store and collapsed part of the roof. "I fell to the floor," Smith said. "Everybody was pretty calm."

Mike Brown, a supervisor at Garvin's Food Center near the Wal-Mart said he was standing beside the store's glass doors when the tornado blew through.

"The lights started blinking on and off several times. The wind pulled the doors out of my hands," said Brown, 38. "We turned and got the customers to the back of the store."

The supermarket was not damaged.