Petal Still Recovering After February Tornado - WHLT 22 Connecting the Pine Belt

Petal Still Recovering After February Tornado

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By Malary Pullen, Digital Journalist - email
PETAL, MS -

Weather officials say when the tornado hit Petal it was a high-end F-3 twister with winds of 160 miles per hour, leaving a trail of destruction.

Petal Mayor Hal Marx talks about the city's condition then and now.

"We've had 27 homes totally destroyed, 40 with major damage and another 60 with minor damage."

Mayor Hal Marx says the city's debris is piling up as residents continue to clean up Ace Hardware on Main Street was the only business destroyed. The mayor says owners will rebuild.  "Luckily with the loss of only one business it's not going to be too bad economically as far as sales tax or loss of revenue for the city."

 

The main concern now, will residence rebuild or move away. "We hope that people will come back and rebuild and those neighborhoods will get back on their feet and we should be okay economically."

  • Petal Still Recovering After February Tornado

  • Malary Pullen is from Lumberton, Mississippi. She graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2011. Malary interned with WHLT 22 in the summer of 2011 and began working at WHLT 22 as a full-time
    Malary Pullen is from Lumberton, Mississippi. She graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2011. Malary interned with WHLT 22 in the summer of 2011 and began working at WHLT 22 as a full-time

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