The death count linked to Winter Storm Fern has risen in Mississippi.
As of Friday afternoon, 29 deaths had been attributed to the weather event, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The latest loss of life occurred in DeSoto County, though the victim’s identity has not been released. Previously reported deaths happened in Adams, Alcorn, Benton, Hinds, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leflore, Sharkey, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Warren, and Yazoo counties.
Currently, around 23,430 are without power, down from a peak of 180,000 outages during the ice storm. Per MEMA, a total of 41 counties have made 878 requests for assistance as recovery efforts continue.
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1,602,862 bottles of water, 395,198 meals, 16,304 blankets, 3,424 cots, and 6,440 tarps have been distributed to impacted counties, officials report. 17 shower trailers and 6 laundry trailers have also been provided to impacted counties. The Mississippi State Department of Health continues to operate two medical needs shelters — one in Lafayette County and the other in Panola County.
MEMA encourages residents who sustained property damage to self-report on the agency’s website, allowing the state to document the extent of damage and the number of people impacted by the storm. Meanwhile, Gov. Tate Reeves has requested a major disaster declaration for all Mississippi counties with verified damage from the storm.