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.

The state is one of a few areas in the US that could be hit with potentially violent tornadoes on Friday, the National Weather Service has warned.

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

The President is expected to announce federal funding for recovery efforts.

Mr Biden and Jill Biden visited the town of Rolling Fork - which was hit directly last week - and received a briefing by officials on the emergency response.

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.

"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.

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

The agency has warned that there is a high risk for tornadoes as a result of these thunderstorms in two separate regions, impacting northern Mississippi and cities like Memphis, Tennessee, Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Illinois.

"At least a few long-track, strong to potentially violent tornadoes are probable, particularly over portions of the Mid-Mississippi Valley to the Mid-South," the NWS said.

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).

It is unclear if the severity of the storm was fuelled by climate change, and the link between tornadoes and warming weather is complex.

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

However, warmer weather in general can increase the severity of a storm. "Those warmer temperatures mean a more unstable atmosphere ... that usually gives us a recipe for even more severe weather," said Lance Perrilloux, a meteorologist with the NWS.

His colleague, Mr Fenner, cautioned that the upcoming thunderstorms in Mississippi 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," he 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.