It is the first time Erwin Macon, a janitor at the local primary school, has been back in the daylight to see what remains of the place he calls home.
The footprint of his mobile home is still there. Everything else, as he says, is gone.
“A lot of people lost their lives. Coming by here, seeing this, it’s hard to deal with,” he says, looking into the distance.
“I’m blessed to be alive.”
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0:19
Moment tornado hits Mississippi school
How man clung to carpet to ensure unlikely survival
It was just before 8pm on Friday when Macon received a text from the authorities, urging people to take shelter.
But it was too late. Within a few minutes, the tornado and its near 200mph swirling winds were upon him and the other almost 2,000 people who live in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.
“I didn’t even hear the siren go off,” he says.
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2:49
Tearful resident recalls miraculous survival
“So when it came, I couldn’t tell you which direction that storm was coming from.
“First it got calm and quiet and next thing you know, you start hearing all that noise and I felt coming towards me.
“The only thing I could do was to get the mattress off the bed and throw it on top of me and lay on the floor.
“The storm blew the mattress off and the only thing that covered me was the carpet.
“Somehow it wrapped around me, and no debris got on me, it kept the rain off.
“I was just holding so tightly, so I wouldn’t get sucked out. That was God, because I’m not supposed to be here.”
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0:50
‘It’s really bad’: Residents hit by tornado
‘Blood running down my face’
Rolling Fork is a deeply religious community – and Lauretta Reed was thanking God, too, after her miraculous escape from the same mobile home park.
She has just been released from the hospital, with stitches holding together a deep gash on her forehead and a finger which was, she says, half hanging off.
“It happened so fast, I don’t know what hit me,” she says.
“I just heard a roar like a big train coming towards me. I don’t know how long it lasted for, but when I came out I had blood running down my face.
“It was still lightening and people were screaming and crying for help and I couldn’t help them. It hurts.”
Image: Damage from the tornado in Amory, Mississippi. Pics: AP
Seeing the scale of the damage, it is hard to believe that more lives were not lost here, even as the search and rescue effort continues.
Everything in the path of the tornado was pulverised.
Almost everyone here has a story to tell.
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0:29
Sheriff heartbroken after relative dies in US tornado
Hiding in a fridge as building destroyed
At Chuck’s Dairy Bar, a diner on the main road of this small town, perhaps the most miraculous of survival stories, as employees hid in a refrigerator while the tornado passed through.
Owner Tracy Harden says: “The lights flickered and someone said ‘cooler’. Nine of us rushed in, really quickly.
“Before my husband could close the door, he said, ‘I can see the sky’. That meant our roof was gone.
“I can’t say how long we were in there, but we felt it moving. We were being pushed and shoved between each other.
“Then all of a sudden it stopped”.
Image: Tracy and Tim Hardin, owners of Chuck’s Dairy Bar, survey the tornado destruction to their business in Rolling Fork. Pic: AP
The tornado left as fast as it had come.
But the scars – in the minds, businesses and homes of people in Rolling Fork – will take much longer to heal.
Jurors in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs have reached a verdict on four of the five counts against him – but the hip-hop mogul will have to wait to learn his fate.
In tense scenes towards the end of the court day on Tuesday, jurors sent a note to say they had reached verdicts on two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation for prostitution, but had been unable to reach a unanimous decision on the charge of racketeering conspiracy.
Combs‘s lawyers surrounded him at the defence table after the note was sent to the court, and at one point he held his head in his hands.
After discussions with prosecution and defence lawyers, Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors to continue deliberating on Wednesday rather than deliver a partial verdict.
Image: Combs and one of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, earlier in the day. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
The jury has testimony from more than 30 witnesses to consider – including Combs’s former long-term partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another former girlfriend called “Jane”, who testified under a pseudonym to protect her identity.
Prosecutors allege the 55-year-old rapper used his fame and power to force Cassie and “Jane” into drug-fuelled sex sessions with male sex workers, which were referred to as “freak-offs”, “wild king nights”, or “hotel nights”.
He was also physically violent and blackmailed them with footage, jurors were told.
They also heard from “Mia”, a former employee who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the rapper on several occasions during her career. She also testified using a pseudonym.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and his defence team has argued that prosecutors are attempting to criminalise what they say was a consensual “swingers lifestyle”.
The rapper chose not to testify and his lawyers did not call any witnesses, building their arguments instead through lengthy cross-examinations of the witnesses called by the prosecution.
The charges against Diddy – and potential sentences
Count 1: Racketeering conspiracy – up to life in prison
Count 2: Sex-trafficking of Cassie Ventura – a minimum of 15 years and maximum of life in prison
Count 3: Transporting individuals including but not limited to Cassie Ventura to engage in prostitution – a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison
Count 4: Sex-trafficking of Jane* – a minimum of 15 years and maximum of life in prison
Count 5: Transporting individuals including but not limited to Jane to engage in prostitution – a maximum of 10 years in prison
What is racketeering conspiracy?
Racketeering conspiracy, which is count one on the verdict sheet, is the most complicated of the charges against Combs.
Jurors need to decide not only whether the rapper created a “racketeering enterprise”, but also if he was involved in various offences as part of this, including kidnapping, arson and bribery.
The charge falls under the US’s RICO laws (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act), which is best known for being used in relation to organised crime and drug cartel cases.
After closing arguments last week, jurors began deliberation on Monday and had spent about 13 hours discussing in total by the time they sent their note.
Before reaching the verdict on the four counts, they had requested to review crucial testimony from Cassie about her account of an assault in a hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Captured on CCTV, the footage was played in court several times – showing Combs, wearing only a towel and socks, beating, kicking and dragging Cassie in a hallway.
His defence team admitted in their opening statement that this was domestic violence, and said the music star regretted these actions – but that they did not amount to any of the federal charges against him.
As well as Cassie’s evidence on that assault, they asked to see her testimony on an incident at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 – when she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off of his yacht.
On their way back to the US, she told the court, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex with an escort.
Jurors also wanted to review testimony given by a male sex worker at the start of the trial.
Combs could face 15 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all charges.
Jurors will continue deliberating on the racketeering conspiracy charge on Wednesday.
Elon Musk has stepped up his attacks on Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill – weeks after a spectacular fallout between the world’s richest man and the US president.
Following weeks of relative silence after clashing with Mr Trump over his “big beautiful bill”, the billionaire vowed to unseat politicians who support it.
In a post on X, Musk said those who had campaigned on cutting spending but then backed the bill “should hang their heads in shame”.
He added: “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
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Musk also threatened to put their faces on a poster which said “liar” and “voted to increase America’s debt” by $5trn (£3.6trn).
The posts attracted a swift reply from Mr Trump, who claimed the billionaire “may get more subsidy than any human being in history” for his electric car business.
“Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
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0:46
Elon’s dad on the Musk-Trump bust-up
Musk spent at least $250m (£182m) supporting Mr Trump in his presidential campaign and then led the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sacked about 120,000 federal employees.
He has argued the legislation would greatly increase the US national debt and wipe out the savings he claimed he achieved through DOGE.
As the Senate discussed the package, Musk called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said the bill’s massive spending indicated “we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”
“Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” he wrote.
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