RIPLEY - A line of severe thunderstorms storms swept across northeast Mississippi and much of the Mid-South Saturday afternoon, causing extensive damage and power outages throughout Ripley and Tippah County. Although property damage was reported, no injures were reported as of 8 p.m. Saturday.

Heavy damage was also reported in Dumas and the Beuna Vista Community but efforts to learn more details were unsuccessful. Tippah Electric General Manager Sam Buchanan said the winds caused power outages to over 6,500 residents. It was unclear as to how many residents had power restored as of 8 p.m. Saturday.

Around 2 p.m., high winds toppled trees, damaged homes and vehicles, and caused a natural gas leak at 706 South Main Street that triggered the evacuation of several families from that area.

The leak was caused when the roots of a large oak tree, blow down during the storm, cut the line buried underneath. The broken line created a hissing sound and sent the smell of natural gas over much of the area, causing the street to be blocked off. Officials evacuated 8 to 10 houses at approximately 3 p.m.

The leak was stopped by “squeezing the line,” at approximately 5 p.m. according to Ripley Gas Superintendent Ben Cox.

“Gas was coming from both ends, so we cut the ends and squeezed them off,” said Cox. “The gas has been cut off and nobody was hurt, which is the main thing,”

On Bails Road, winds ripped through a residential area comprised of number of mobile homes. There, a large tree fell a car and a truck at 142 Bails Road. The car, believed to be a Pontiac, was completely crushed and a Maroon Ford F-150 suffered major damage.

Also, in the same area, an unoccupied mobile home was flipped on its side at 143 Crestwood Drive. The owners of the vehicles and the mobile home could not be reached for comment.