Farmers Plow Forward Following Mississippi Storms and Damage
In partnership with: Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce
On the night of March 24, 2023, Mississippi storms including an EF4 tornado demolished the town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where Mary Grayson Martin and her family grow corn, soybeans and wheat. Martin’s father also owns the NAPA Auto Parts store in Rolling Fork, only 20 feet of which remained after the storm.
“We had trailers and hopper bottoms turned over and tractors with windows busted out,” Martin says. “There was a 10,000-gallon diesel tank that we still don’t know where it is today.”
The Martins’ wheat fields were already planted, and they were in the middle of planting corn when the storm hit.
“Two-by-fours looked like toothpicks sticking up out of the ground,” Martin says. The family had to clean and move debris for weeks just to harvest their wheat fields. “We picked up tin, shingles and plywood before we could even think about planting. Four weeks after it happened, we got back to planting corn.”
Headed East
Almost 200 miles east of Rolling Fork, 63-year-old Dennis Herndon and his son, Matthew, live near Amory where they have raised cattle together since the ’90s. Matthew is also the manager of the Monroe County Co-op.
A couple of hours after Rolling Fork, a second tornado hit Amory. Matthew uses one word to describe that night, “nightmarish.”
Just a little over a mile from Matthew’s house, his father’s and brother’s houses took the brunt of the storm after what Dennis describes as an “absolutely beautiful day.” Dennis and his wife, Lisa, hunkered down in their closet as the storm hit at 10:50 p.m.
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“I told Lisa ‘Here it comes, brace yourself,’” Dennis says. “We were in the closet hugging and praying. Immediately, it hit the house.”
It was 11:05 p.m. before they stepped out of the closet into the only remaining section of their house possessing a roof and windows.
They emerged from the wreckage and cleared a path down their driveway to their son Ethan’s house.
“Where their trailer was, there was nothing. Like nothing was ever there,” Dennis says.
Digging through the wreckage, Dennis found his daughter-in-law and two of his three grandchildren badly injured and shivering in the cold. His son and youngest granddaughter unfortunately did not survive the storm.
Matthew was the first one to make it there after walking almost a mile through downed trees and debris, and soon after, neighbors and church members showed up to help as well.
Rebuilding From Ruins
Back on the farm, the Herndons found themselves without a fence to retain their cattle. They eventually sold the herd with hopes of rebuilding fences in the future.
“As ragged as those cows looked, folks outdid themselves,” Dennis says. “If I’d been on the buying end, there’s no way they should have brought that much money.”
Matthew recalls at least one other neighbor who also had to put their cattle up for auction.
While the county is majority row crop production, Matthew says it’s the fencing materials that have sold more than usual this year. Beyond that, production appears to have mostly stabilized.
“Row crops are back to normal, and we started harvest on time,” Matthew says.
Time for Healing from Mississippi Storms
Despite horrific personal losses, somehow the Herndons and Martins are still able to see the silver lining.
“At any given day on our place there were 50 to 75 people,” Matthew says. “That lasted two weeks or more. They would work for hours and hours.”
Martin saw the same thing in Rolling Fork.
These two communities faced the storms together and continue to persevere. Both families are continuing to heal after the disaster because farmers don’t stop.