ARLINGTON, Va., - About 50 military policemen from the Mississippi Army National Guard were called out this weekend after two "long-track" tornados caused damage in the western part of the state.
Long-track tornados are defined as tornados with paths longer than 100 miles.
At least two such tornados caused widespread damage in Mississippi, with at least 10 fatalities and numerous injuries, the National Weather Service (NOAA) reports.
NOAA officials reported the storms as "the largest one-day severe weather event in over a year."
They struck the lower and middle Mississippi Valley, the lower Ohio Valley and the Tennessee Valley on Saturday, with more than 300 reports of severe weather received, including more than 50 reports of tornadoes, said NOAA officials.
In Mississippi, the tornados struck in Yazoo City in Yazoo County, an area referred to as the "gateway of the Delta." Other damage occurred in the town of Weir in Choctaw County.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour ordered the Guardsmen to state active duty to help out in both towns.
"The (military policemen) assisted local law enforcement with security checkpoints and traffic," said Army Maj. Christian Patterson, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Guard.
The MPs were from the 12th MP Battalion in Canton and the 113th MP Company in Brandon.
Guard aviation Soldiers from the 185th Aviation Brigade also flew the governor and other state officials on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to assess the damage in the affected areas.
Patterson said the Soldiers will wrap-up their response operations at noon today.