“We were struggling to rebuild the town before the tornado,” said Angela Hall Williams, a longtime resident. In the Mississippi Delta, hoping for opportunity after a ruinous tornado:
Henry Hood’s home, which was damaged by a tornado earlier in the year, in Rolling Fork, Miss. on May 18, 2023.
But just like Talia and Malissa Williams, many people in the community had already been navigating a slower-motion crisis for years, one that has swept the whole of the Mississippi Delta over decades of disinvestment and decline. The most viable solution for many Delta residents has been to leave. That was the case during the Great Migration, the mass exodus from the South of African Americans fleeing racist oppression and poverty during the 20th century. The population drain continued as increased mechanization of farming reduced the need for farm laborers and other types of industry fled the region.
As clear-eyed as Hall Williams was about what ailed Rolling Fork, she was among those who saw promise in the town. “It’s coming back,” she said confidently. There were also things that, while not essential to a functioning community, held deep value as the landmarks of home. Domonique Smith, who grew up in Rolling Fork, noticed the loss of the pear tree in the yard of a woman known as Miss Louise, which had long been harvested by neighborhood children.
Almost a year ago, Powell’s mother had moved to Texas, but Powell stayed behind, living with relatives. She wanted a normal senior year with her friends, something different from her school experience during the pandemic. The tornado hit the town just before her prom.
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