Tornadoes and Hail in Mississippi, November 21, 1997

A severe thunderstorm moved out of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana into extreme south Mississippi. Several short lived tornadoes touched down as it crossed Pearl River, Hancock, and Harrison Counties. Near Nicholson, a tornado touched down near Nicholson, moving through a mobile home park and also passing across the Mississippi Visitors Center on Interstate Highway 59. Damage path was estimated at approximately four miles, due to lack of ground access in Pearl River drainage area to the west of Nicholson. Preliminary reports from Pearl River County and state officials indicated that 3 single family homes were destroyed and 18 others heavily damaged; and 21 mobile homes were destroyed and 8 others heavily damaged. Several car windows were blown out when the tornado passed through the Visitors Center. One person was injured in the mobile home park and another person suffered minor injuries in a nearby subdivision when their auto was hit by falling trees and limbs. Large hail was also reported by the Sheriffs Office in McNeil. Two addtional tornado touch-downs were reported in north Hancock County and north Harrison County as the severe thunderstorm moved northeast. In north Hancock County, civil defense reported two homes were damaged along with two mobile homes when a tornado touched down in a rural area. In north Harrison County, a tornado damaged a convenience store along with heavily damaging a couple of mobile homes. The tornado path lengths in Hancock and Harrison Counties were estimated from damage reports.