ROLLING FORK, Miss.—Several hard-hit Mississippi towns continued to dig out after a powerful tornado cut a path of destruction through parts of the state Friday night, as residents balanced grief with a hope that the disaster could eventually spur renewal in their rural communities.
Driving down Highway 61 into the Delta town of Rolling Fork, population 1,800, on Sunday, the smell of barbecued meat and wood smoke was overpowering.
Much of the town, located not far from the Mississippi River, was leveled by the storm, including its business district.
The tornado claimed at least 25 lives in Mississippi, more than a dozen of them around Rolling Fork, as residents lost parents, cousins, lifelong friends and what some said were their dream homes.