FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Churches and Nonprofit Disaster Response Organizations Provide Tornado Relief Across South Mississippi

Serve Source is supporting coordination and shared situational awareness as partners provide feeding, cleanup, supplies, assessments, chainsaw work, and roof tarping in affected communities.

AUSTIN, Texas — May 12, 2026 — Severe storms and tornadoes moved across South Mississippi on Wednesday evening, May 6, 2026, producing a significant tornado outbreak across Lamar, Lincoln, Lawrence, Franklin, Adams, Pike, Walthall, and nearby South Mississippi counties. The National Weather Service has confirmed 8 tornadoes in Mississippi from the May 6–7 severe weather event, and thankfully only 26 injuries and no deaths have been reported.

The most significant confirmed tornado was a long-track EF3 tornado that was a mile wide, with estimated winds of 137 mph, and remained on the ground for 69.8 miles from Wilkinson County to Lawrence County, affecting areas near Garden City, West Lincoln, Bogue Chitto, Enterprise, East Lincoln, and Harmony. A separate EF2 tornado tracked through Lamar County near Purvis, producing significant tree, structural, roof, outbuilding, warehouse, and commercial building damage.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reports 403 homes and 21 businesses damaged statewide, including 78 homes destroyed and 77 homes with major damage. The highest confirmed residential damage is in Lincoln County and Lamar County, with damage estimates showing 281 homes damaged in Lincoln County and 82 homes damaged in Lamar County. MEMA notes these figures may change as assessments continue.

Responding organizations listed through Serve Source are providing practical support across impacted communities, including feeding, debris management, tree and chainsaw work, roof tarping, assessment teams, supplies, volunteer opportunities, and private-property cleanup support. Serve Source is helping make response activity visible so survivors can find the verified assistance they need, volunteers can sign up easily with organizations serving in their community, and donors can give toward trusted, verified organizations. Serve Source also provides a common operating picture so that churches, nonprofits, and aligned partners all have the best understanding of where services are being provided, where needs are emerging, and how response efforts are developing across impacted communities.

Church of the Highlands Disaster Response is responding in Brookhaven to provide debris management, assessment teams, and tree and chainsaw work. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1380008372103451/

Operation Blessing is providing hot meals, supplies, debris management, tree and chainsaw work, and work orders from its response location in Hattiesburg, with support directed toward the Purvis community. https://ob.org/disaster-response/

Just the Crumbs is deployed to Bogue Chitto Baptist Church for feeding and debris cleanup. https://justthecrumbsministries.com/

Samaritan’s Purse is responding from Purvis with volunteer teams assisting homeowners through debris cleanup, chainsaw work, and roof tarping. The response includes opportunities for both overnight and day volunteers. https://spvolunteer.org/project-response/800

God’s Pit Crew has dispatched essential supplies to multiple church and community response locations supporting impacted families in Brookhaven, Purvis, and Bogue Chitto. Supplies include Blessing Buckets, Play Pails for children, water, Gatorade, cleaning supplies, and other critical household items. https://godspitcrew.org

Serve Source helps trusted partners share response activity, monitoring status, deployment information, needs, and service locations so partners can respond with greater clarity, coordination, and geographic coverage. This shared visibility helps reduce duplication, improve awareness, and make it easier for churches, nonprofits, and community partners to identify gaps and opportunities to serve.

To view current response partners and response details for the South Mississippi Tornado Outbreak May 2026, visit https://app.servesource.org/DisasterDetail?id=69fc8f6806811b865688b235.

About Serve Source

Serve Source is a backbone organization that strengthens and equips churches, faith-based organizations, and aligned partners through relationships, shared infrastructure, and coordinated action so communities in crisis receive clearer, stronger, and more connected support. Through shared situational awareness, trusted relationships, and practical response infrastructure, Serve Source increases visibility for credible response efforts, helps reduce duplication, and supports more connected action during disasters and community needs. Serve Source is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas.

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