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House on River Terminal Road. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

House near River Terminal Road. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

(Nicole Hester / The Natchez Democrat)

Trees down on Lower Woodville Road near Cloverdale Road Sunday morning.

Sheriff deputies and work crews remove trees and debris after a storm moved through the area Sunday.

House on River Terminal Road. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — National Weather Service meteorologists say a good chance exists that a tornado landed southwest of Natchez early Sunday morning.

NWS Jackson Meteorologist Thomas Winesett said the preliminary data supports a tornado possibly touching down in the area of Carthage Point Road and heading toward the Mississippi River and perhaps crossing toward Vidalia. However, Winesett said the weather service cannot confirm a tornado landed until a team surveys the damage.

Winesett said meteorologists have also received reports of a lot of damage in the Cloverdale area.

“Once we go down and survey, we will have a more accurate picture and more data and info on the actual track of a potential tornado,” Winesett said. “It looks like it probably was a tornado, but we just can’t officially say for sure until a team goes down to survey.”

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said early Sunday morning many trees were downed in the southern portion of Adams County, and also in Natchez, causing power outages and blocking some roads.

Bradford said first responders worked hard to clear the roads so power utility vehicles could get in to restore power. As of late Sunday morning, Bradford said all of the roads should be passible.

“The first responders did a great job — the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue, the Adams County volunteer fire fighters and the Adams County Road Department,” Bradford said. “The response was just amazing.”

Bradford said the worst of the damage appeared to be in the Cloverdale community.

Trees were also down in the county on roads including on Bourke Road, Carthage Point Road and Lower Woodville Road, Bradford said.

Trees have fallen on some residences, but Bradford said he has not heard of any major damage.

Bradford said the focus of Sunday was to clear the roads, and on Monday first responders would assess the damage and work to remove debris from the side of the roads.

Bradford said he would also ask the Adams County Board of Supervisors to sign a disaster proclamation for the county so officials can assist residents with removing trees from private property.

“A lot of individuals have trees on their property, on their houses, and things like that,” Bradford said. “I would just tell people to wait and see and go take pictures of any damage so we will have it on file for state or federal assistance.”

Bradford asked for patience as utility companies worked to restore power. As of approximately 4 p.m., Entergy’s website lists 46 outages in Natchez with 562 customers affected and 17 outages in the Ferriday area with 174 customers affected.

Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy David Hedrick said trees were down in the parish, but all roads are passable. Hedrick said the sheriff’s department had crews and deputies out removing trees all morning.

Winesett said the system has moved on from the Natchez area, and Monday and Tuesday look to be sunny days. However, Winesett said another system could be coming through on Wednesday so he urged people to keep an eye on weather reports in the coming days.

The flash flood warning was lifted Sunday morning, but Winesett said a flood warning is still in effect because a lot of rain fell in the Ohio River Valley recently, which could produce floods along the Mississippi River.

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