Storms Batter Mississippi, Alabama

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - A Lee County official says an inspection
shows a Tupelo mall WAS NOT damaged in this morning's possible
tornado, as first reported.
Lee County's director of emergency communications, Paul Harkins,
said inspections at the Barnes Crossing Shopping Mall had
determined there was no damage to the structure itself. He said
rather, things around the mall were damaged.
He says power lines and trees are down around the mall and a car
was lifted off the ground and pushed into a tree.
Harkins said there was damage to a nearby Lowe's (retail home
improvement store) and to a farm supply store.
He said most of the damage was to the farm supply business with
damage to the roof. He said an 18-wheeler truck trailer outside the
store had been overturned.
No injuries have been reported from the possible tornado that
moved across northeast Mississippi.
In Alabama, strong winds flipped a mobile home and blew a piece
of metal roofing off a high school. Several school districts in the
state send kids home early.
And in south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few
barns were damaged.