Mississippi weather alerts: Joe Biden visits state amid warnings

Mississippi is bracing for more severe weather, just a week after a deadly tornado, and as US President Joe Biden visits affected towns.

Severe thunderstorms and flash floods are forecasted for the region on Friday, bringing with them powerful winds and the risk of more tornadoes.

The weather could hit the same areas that were battered by a deadly storm last week that killed 25 people.

Mr Biden and Jill Biden will meet residents and first responders.

They will are scheduled to visit the town of Rolling Fork - which was hit directly last week - and receive a briefing by officials on the response and recovery efforts.

Mr Biden will later make a speech about the rebuilding efforts - even as meteorologists urge local residents to prepare and stay alert.

The latest round of severe weather forecasted for the Mississippi region will bring thunderstorms from late Friday afternoon into the evening, said Nicholas Fenner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Jackson.

It is part of a larger weather system that is expected to bring thunderstorms from the Midwest to eastern Texas, the NWS said.

"This storm will bring heavy rain as well as the threat for damaging wind gusts, anything between 60 to 70 mph would be possible," Mr Fenner told BBC News.

This warning comes just a week after a powerful tornado devastated Rolling Fork, in western Mississippi, on the evening of 24 March, where homes were flattened and cars were turned upside down and destroyed.

That tornado travelled 59 miles (94 km) and lasted about an hour and 10 minutes - an unusually long period of time for a storm to sustain itself. It damaged about 2,000 homes, officials said.

The storm registered as a four on the Enhanced Fujita scale, according to the NWS, meaning it had a three-second gust of 166 to 200 mph (267 to 321 kph).

Mr Fenner said severe weather is not unusual for this region of the US at this time - seasonal changes mean more chances for cold air to interact with heat and humidity, which causes thunderstorms.

But he cautioned that those thunderstorms have the power to turn into something bigger and more dangerous.

"Every weather event is different, but the atmosphere today will be capable of producing those types of tornadoes," Mr Fenner said, similar to what the region saw last week.

"We do encourage everybody here locally and across the region to be paying attention and have plans," he said, including looking into places to shelter safely.

Other ways people can prepare include stocking up on emergency supplies, preparing for power outages and staying out of the way of downed trees and severe hail.