Stunned residents of a small Mississippi town were picking up coins Sunday after a violent tornado hit the city, leaving a dead person – and scoring the first tornado death in 2019.

The tornado in Columbus, which was unleashed Saturday night by a series of intense storms, was confirmed by the National Weather Service in Jackson. The twister, which was part of an epidemic of severe weather that raged in the south of the country, toppled trees and wiped out businesses and homes in the city's 24,000-strong population on the eastern border of the country. 39; State.

Ashley Glynell Pounds, 41, of Tupelo, died after the collapse of a building on her and three other people, confirmed the office of Columbus Mayor Robert Smith in a Facebook post. Smith said 12 other people were injured.

Pounds' death was the first tornado death in 2019, according to The Weather Channel.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant said in a tweet on Sunday that emergency officials were working with first responders. "Until now, a death has been confirmed and the assessment of the damage is ongoing.We are saddened by the loss of life, but grateful, it was not worse.We are grateful this Sunday morning, "he said.

The tornado seriously damaged a school, two community center buildings and other warehouses and businesses, said city spokesman Joe Dillon.

More: Weekend in wild weather: blizzard, tornadoes, floods, fierce winds expected

Pastor Steve Blaylock of the first Pentecostal church in Columbus hugged his wife, Pat, Sunday in the middle of broken wood, destroyed the benches and the shaven roof that was once his church.

The building was "a total loss," said Blaylock. But he said that the church would still organize a Sunday prayer service and a scheduled baptism, using a portable baptismal basin.

"We will rebuild. We have a good church here, "said Blaylock. "It will be a testimony of God."

Residents described torrential rain and strong winds on Saturday night.

"The wind suddenly became so violent and it was raining so hard that it was hard to see through the door, and I heard a roar. Obviously, this is getting closer, "said Lee Lawrence at the Associated Press. Lawrence said four buildings in his parking lot had been destroyed, the windows of the car had been blown and uprooted trees had been thrown onto vehicles.

Dax Clark, a meteorological student at Mississippi State University, told The Weather Channel that classmates had fled to a gas station.

"Our radar told us that the tornado was moving north of us, but the wind was still so crazy," Clark said. "It did not directly affect our gas station, but it was still pretty important."

More: 2018 was a record year for tornadoes in the United States.

Clark witnessed a series of destructions after the passing of the storm. "We saw houses with no roofs or outside walls, a car that had been turned over in a ditch and a lot of trees and power lines on the ground," he said.

Early reports of damage indicate that at least 300 homes, 190 roads and bridges and 30 businesses in 20 counties were damaged by weekend storms across the state, according to the report. Emergency Management Agency of Mississippi.

The agency said the national meteorological service had confirmed that another tornado had shot down on Tishomingo County, damaging two homes, two bridges and 22 roads.

Elsewhere, a man died after his vehicle was submerged by the heavy rainfalls of Knoxville, Tennessee. Officials from some counties in eastern Kentucky have also declared emergency situations due to floods and landslides.

Contribute: The Associated Press

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