At least 25 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a tornado that has hit southern Mississippi in the past few hours.

“This is a tragedy,” Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted, referring to the deadly tornadoes that caused damage in a radius of about 150 kilometers.

US President Joe Biden spoke about the heartbreaking pictures and assured that the federal government will do “everything possible to help” the victims “for as long as it takes.”

In Rolling Fork, a western Mississippi city of about 2,000, entire city blocks were leveled to the ground, streets strewn with debris, cars overturned, and trees uprooted.

“It took almost everything in its path,” Patricia Perkins, 61, said of the tornado. “Most of the stores have been leveled to the ground,” he added.

Aaron Rigsby, a tornado hunter, said he arrived in the area Friday night and heard “screams from people trapped under the rubble calling for help.” He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) how he freed two women he found in the ruins of their homes. The first was pinned down by the roof of her house, while the second was sandwiched between the sofa and the refrigerator.

Speaking to CNN, Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker said, “My city is gone.” “Demolished houses can be replaced, but life cannot be replaced,” he continued.

As ABC previously reported, at least 13 people were killed in Sharkey County, three in Carroll County, two in Monroe County, and one in Humphreys County.

Severe storms also hit neighboring Alabama, where a man died when his mobile home overturned, according to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.

The central and southern states of the United States often suffer from tornadoes. In December 2021, about 80 people died as a result of a tornado that swept through Kentucky.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.