• At least 23 people are dead after a tornado ripped through central Mississippi on Friday night.
  • Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said that search crews are still "active" throughout the state.
  • "The loss will be felt in these towns forever," Reeves wrote on Twitter.

At least 23 people died overnight after a tornado ripped through central Mississippi, destroying homes and leaving at least one town in ruins.

Officials said dozens more were injured and at least four people are still missing after what was likely multiple tornadoes tore through the region in the dead of night, according to the Mississippi Department of Emergency Management. The agency said that the numbers are expected to rise. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a tweet Saturday morning that search and rescue teams are still active, searching for victims. 

"The loss will be felt in these towns forever," Reeves wrote. "Please pray for God's hand to be over all who lost family and friends."

According to CNN, residents of Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi lost power as the storm ripped across all three states.

The small town of Rolling Fork in Mississippi saw the worst of the storm in Mississippi. Rolling Fork has a population of 1,776 people, according to the 2020 US Census. 

Rolling Fork's mayor, Eldridge Walker, told WJTV that his home was damaged by the tornado and that rescue crews were still working to pull people from the rubble on Saturday morning.

"What we found was devastation all around us," Walker said, according to the outlet. Walker did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Saturday.

 

Brandy Showah, who lives in Rolling Fork, told CNN that she had "never seen anything like" the storm that destroyed the town.

"I've never seen anything like this," Brandy Showah told the outlet. "This was a very great small town, and now it's gone."

This is a developing story.

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