Cindy Beasley, of Wren, stands in her living room pointing out the damage to her home Monday morning on Little Coontail Road caused by Friday nights tornado. She rode the storm out in a outdoor storm shelter with her husband Ted.
Foster Fields and his wife, Bonnie, survey the damage to their home of 46 years on McAlister Road in Wren on March 27, 2023, as they and other Monroe County residents are continue to recover from the devastation wrought by Friday night's tornado.
Isaac Houk, of Amory, cleans up debris from a home on Whatley Road near the Wren community on Monday that was totally demolished by Friday nights tornado. Houk was one of many student volunteers from Amory High School to assist in the clean up efforts.
Cindy Beasley, of Wren, stands on her back patio overlooking the tree damage at her home Monday morning on Little Coontail Road caused by Friday nights tornado. She rode the storm out in a outdoor storm shelter with her husband Ted.
A hymnal rests next to a floral arrangement at the entry way of Tranquil United Methodist Church on March 27, 2023, in Wren. The church, which dates back more than a century, was one of many to be damaged or demolished in the March 24 tornado that devastated portions of Monroe County.
Bonnie Fields stands in the rubble of her home on March 27, 2023, as she describes trying to make her way to the closet with her husband in the moments leading up to Friday's tornado that destroyed their home of 46 years along McAlister Road in Wren.
WREN — Days after a deadly tornado cut a destructive path through Northeast Mississippi residents in Monroe County — Amory, Wren, Egypt — are beginning the long and painful process of mourning their losses and rebuilding their lives.
On Monday, Wren Fire Department Captain Mark Cordeiro was at the department, which includes the public library and community center. Droves of individuals from all around Northeast Mississippi landed at the fire department to give food, clothes, cleaning supplies and other essentials to those in need.
Between unloading vehicles full of supplies, Cordeiro said he had been at the scene of the worst affected areas in Wren. That included Herndon Road, where Ethan Herndon, 34, and Riley Mae Herndon, 23 months, died at their home during the storm.
“You’re going to be scared,” he said of the community's efforts to start rebuilding. “You have to keep going and push through that fear.”
According to data from the National Weather Service in Memphis, the tornado that ripped through Monroe County on March 24 has a preliminary reading of EF-3, which produced winds peaking at 155 mph on an almost 37-mile stretch.
The two deaths in Wren were the only reported fatalities in the county, despite the devastation in neighboring Amory and Egypt.
Members of the Monroe County Board of Supervisors met with emergency management officials Monday morning to discuss the scope of the tornado's destruction. By a windshield assessment, an estimated 1,500 homes and 115 businesses were affected by the tornado, which followed a roughly 37-mile path wrecking portions of Monroe County, including downtown Amory.
The storm entered the county near the intersection of Old Houston Road and grew while approaching Egypt and Tumblin roads. The tornado was a mile wide by the time it hit Whatley Road, destroying Tranquil United Methodist Church on Highway 45.
Kim Cockrell, who lives off Highway 45 in the Wren community, said she awoke to the sound of the tornado. She said she ran to her bathroom and held on to her toilet as the storm tore through the bedroom in which she had been sleeping. She prayed the whole time.
For residents of the small community, the days following the storm have been spent picking up the pieces. Cockrell said the storage shed that held her prized family mementos was destroyed in the storm. She said she was lucky to find some of them, including her son’s baby blanket and the outfit her daughter wore out of the hospital as a newborn.
“We are homeless now,” she said, noting that she rents her home and would have to find new accommodations with her husband.
The worst part, she said, wasn’t the loss of her home and memories, it was the individuals who, instead of coming to help, came to her community to tour the devastation. Cockrell lives directly beside Tranquil United Methodist Church, a historic church that demolished during the storm. She said she tried to stop people from going into what was left of the church, but many left with different artifacts, including stained glass the church displayed with names of dead members.
“This is my life," she said. "Why do you want to see my devastation?”
On Little Coontail Road, not far from Cockrell's home, almost no house was left unscathed. Ted Beasley and his wife, Cindy, huddled in their storm shelter as the tornado came through. Ted Beasley said he could feel the wind vibrating their shelter, threatening to topple the sturdy structure. Once it calmed, he and his wife tried to step outside but had to clear a path that blocked the door.
Their home, meanwhile, lost its roof. Cindy Beasley pointed to where the window curtains had been lifted by the storm and trapped under the ceiling when it crashed back down.
“The fear factor really hits you,” Ted Beasley said. “It’s a heck of a thing when everything you worked for is gone in moments.”
He urged everyone who could to build a storm shelter, noting he believed it saved his and his wife’s life.
Down the road, John Hatcher said he and his family were blessed to survive. He was asleep when the storm came through but was awakened by his wife and daughters. They tried to flee to their storm shelter, but couldn't make it out of the house.
“I grabbed the kids and dove into the bathroom,” he said, pointing to his home, which had been ripped half. The bathroom was where the damage stopped. “Another 5 feet, and it would’ve gotten me and the kids.”
Secretary of State Michael Watson was in Wren on Monday morning to donate a truckload and trailer full of supplies from two churches on the Gulf Coast, Three Rivers Assembly of God near Hurley, Mississippi, and First Presbyterian of Pascagoula, Mississippi. He said he was happy to help in any capacity.
“This is just Mississippi folks loving on Mississippians,” he said. “I love to see the faith-based community be the tip of the spear in the effort.”
