JACKSON, Miss.—Four more Mississippians have died and thousands remain without power days after Winter Storm Fern pelted the state with ice and freezing rain, adding further urgency to response efforts heading into what forecasters say will be an even colder weekend.
The four additional deaths—one in Lafayette County, one in Panola County, and two in Tippah County—bring total weather-related fatalities in the state to 14, and conditions remain dire for residents of North Mississippi and the Delta who’ve endured frigid temperatures and power outages for almost a week.
During a Thursday afternoon press conference, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves defended the ongoing disaster response, noting that officials are working tirelessly to help the state bounce back from the worst ice storm to hit the South in decades. He stressed that it would be unproductive to compare road clearance in North Mississippi with similar efforts in neighboring Tennessee—as many Mississippians have been doing on social media—because the two areas received “different levels of ice.”
“We learn something in every storm,” the governor told reporters. “We ensure that we are trying to get better at disaster preparedness and disaster response, and I’m sure that the Mississippi Department of Transportation joins all of us in saying there are things that we could have done better.”
MDOT staff are still working to clear roads and highways in North Mississippi after freezing temperatures on Wednesday resulted in renewed ice accumulation, Reeves said Thursday. They are being assisted by other emergency personnel and the Mississippi National Guard, which has deployed another 150 members to support recovery efforts.
State agencies have also made emergency health-care services available in several hard-hit areas, including a number of ambulances and a medical needs shelter in Lafayette County.
“Life safety remains our top priority,” Reeves said at the press conference. “We’ve got literally thousands of people out there working as we speak, and we will continue to do that until this particular event is behind us.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has received reports of damage to 223 homes, 10 businesses and seven farms statewide, as well as damage to 70 public roads, according to a news release from Reeves’ office. Twelve roads have been completely destroyed, and damage totals are expected to climb as assessments keep pouring in.
Approximately 98,950 Mississippians are currently without power, down from a high of 180,000 over the weekend, Reeves said Thursday. Energy providers have dispatched linemen to continue restoring electricity to affected areas, and a total of 45 generators have been installed statewide to keep public water systems and other critical infrastructure online.
Meanwhile, an array of volunteer organizations are working with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to distribute meals, blankets and other essentials in impacted counties.
“This is going to take a week or two weeks to get the power back on (and) to get the streets back safe,” Reeves said Thursday. “That’s just where we find ourselves given the severity of the damage.”
On Jan. 24, President Donald Trump approved Reeves’ emergency declaration for Mississippi ahead of the storm, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to supplement local response efforts and provide equipment and resources to hard-hit areas. State agencies are conducting the necessary damage assessments to request expanded assistance from FEMA as the severe weather continues, Reeves said Thursday.
States have faced longer wait times for federal disaster assistance since the Trump administration took power. On Thursday, FEMA approved $6.4 million in funding to subsidize debris removal efforts in Walthall County, Mississippi, almost a year after severe storms and tornadoes devastated the area.
With the upcoming weather forecast showing another weekend of frigid temperatures, Reeves urged Mississippians to take proactive steps to prepare. He encouraged residents to check in on friends and neighbors—particularly those still facing power outages—and highlighted the 79 warming shelters currently open in 44 counties.
An updated list of shelter locations can be found on the MEMA website. Residents who sustained damage from the winter weather should continue reporting it to their county/MEMA via the self-report tool.