At 6:15 this morning, during a wild thunder and lightening storm, our phones spontaneously delivered an emergency tornado warning. The twister had touched ground and would likely hit Natchez at 6:25. Hotel guests all gathered in an inside stairwell and waited.

By 6:45 nothing had happened  and we heard the tornado was  on its way to Port Gibson so  back to our rooms. After breakfast we followed part of the storm route,  up the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway.

The Natchez Trace was a very old road used by Native Americans before the first settlers used it to get from Tennessee to Natchez. In spots, the deeply worn trail is still evident alongside the modern roadway.

Near Port Gibson we found where the tornado had passed,  carving a wandering trail of destruction through the forest shattering and shearing lines of trees and blowing debris.

Because the tornado traveled mostly through wooded areas there was minimal property damage and no one was hurt.