Mississippi church seeks help rebuilding after devastation by tornado

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Tuesday, May 12, 2026

The congregation at Coaltown Baptist Church in Purvis, Mississippi, is seeking to raise $50,000 to help repair their church building after a tornado ripped the roof off their sanctuary, destroyed their fellowship hall, and Sunday School rooms last Wednesday night.

The church’s pastor, Jimmy Breazeale, appealed to the public in a GoFundMe campaign that had raised less than $3,000 as of Tuesday morning.

“We are asking for prayers first and foremost. If you feel led to help financially, any donation, big or small, will go directly toward rebuilding our church home and helping restore what was lost in the storm,” Breazeale said in his campaign statement.

Breazeale and his members at Coaltown Baptist Church were thanking God last Wednesday after one of at least 14 tornadoes that swept across Mississippi struck their building. As the storm wreaked havoc, the pastor said his members sang “Amazing Grace," and everyone survived without injury.

“The destruction is heartbreaking, but through it all, God’s hand of protection was over us. Every single person made it out safely and without injury,” Breazeale wrote in his campaign.

“While we are beyond grateful for the lives spared, our church now faces the difficult road of cleanup, repairs, and rebuilding. This church is more than a building; it is a place of worship, fellowship, meals, ministry and refuge for so many in our community.”

At least 17 people were injured in tornadoes statewide, according to Mississippi authorities.

Information cited by 4WWL from the National Weather Service said the most significant activity across the state occurred between 5:45 p.m. and about 11 p.m., damaging about 400 homes.

Among those homes was one that Dmell Burnes shared in a mobile home park in Bogue Chitto with his young daughter. In an emotional interview with Storm Tracker reporter Charles Peek, he shared how he and his daughter escaped with just their lives.

“Well, I just got in from work, set dinner on the table. It was about five minutes later I started hearing like the train sound, so I told my little girl to come on, let’s get in the closet, and we got in the closet,” he recalled. “We weren’t in there for five seconds before you could feel the rocking and the wind blowing.”

He explained, while hyperventilating, that they both started praying as the mayhem unfolded outside the closet.

“We started praying, and when I climbed out when it was over, the closet was the only thing left,” he said.

Even though he will have to start his life all over again, Burnes declared, “I’m blessed. I’m blessed.”