WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Several buildings have been damaged, and injuries are reported, after a tornado touched down today in at least three counties in west-central Mississippi.

A spokesman for the state's Emergency Management Agency says the damage "appears to be significant." He says three counties were conducting a "massive response."

It's not clear just how many people were hurt. At least one was airlifted to a hospital. An ambulance service says it sent 11 ambulances to Yazoo City.

A forecaster describes the tornado as being about three quarters of a mile wide.

Severe storms swept across the Southeast today, darkening skies and dumping rain on the area.