Strong storms rolled through Lafayette County Monday early morning
Published 3:32 pm Monday, May 6, 2024
There may be a lot of yawning folks in Oxford today.
At about 1:23 a.m. Monday, a tornado warning was issued for north Lafayette County by the National Weather Service when the first round of severe thunderstorms rolled into the area.
Lafayette County public information officer Beau Moore said there is no indication that a tornado touched down.
“There is no reported damage at this time,” he said Monday morning.
About 15 minutes after the tornado warning was issued, some sirens in Oxford and near the University of Mississippi went off. On social media, some residents expressed some confusion as to why the sirens would go off after the worst of the storm had passed over the tornado warning area.
As the storm moved east, the NWS included Oxford in its warning, which triggered the outdoor sirens going off, Moore said.
As soon as the weather seemed to calm down, another storm cell passed over Lafayette County, with loud thunder and lots of lightning. At 2:45 a.m. the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning.
The heavy rain and thunder and lightning continued until about 6 a.m. The NWS issued a flash flood warning at 6:15 a.m.
The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office reported flooding County Road 303 around the 300-300 block and down by the Taylor city limit.
North East Mississippi Electric Power Association reported several power outages during the storms but serve was restored by early Monday morning to most homes.