s strong storms ripped through the Jackson-metro area, a Rankin County poultry farm was destroyed by a possible tornado.
The storm that hit the farm sent roofs and insulation flying through the area causing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Luckily, Koch Foods processing arrived about 30 minutes before the storm hit to relocated chickens, saving many of the birds and also people on the farm.
“Number one, it actually saved lives because nobody was actually in the chicken houses when it struck,” said Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey. “Several of his neighbors came over there and are helping him out, and there’s just, there’s no way to salvage any of those houses. After it struck the poultry farm, there was insulation from the chicken house of two or three miles away in trees, so it definitely had some high winds with it. It’s just like the tornado just popped down after his house got his farm and then didn’t touch any other houses in the area.”
According to Sheriff Bailey, this same farm sustained damage in a 2013 storm.
