Mississippi tornadoes leave more than a dozen injured and trail of destruction

At least three tornadoes hit Mississippi overnight with at least 17 injuries reported and hundreds of homes damaged, officials said.

Approximately 500 homes were damaged statewide, primarily in Lamar and Lincoln counties, according to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves.

The initial assessment shows a trail of devastation stretching about 16-miles long in Lamar County, nearly from one end of the county to the other, county emergency management director James Smith told ABC News.

Some of the hardest-hit areas include Purvis and Brookhaven, as well as a mobile home park in Bogue Chitto, authorities said.

Baseball-sized hail and flooding was also reported in parts of the state as well as in Alabama, especially in and around Montgomery, where the state capitol building was evacuated during a special session debate on redistricting.

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Mississippi has seen 62 tornadoes so far this year before Wednesday, all of them EF0 or EF1 strength.

As a cold front slowly sinks into the region, there is a chance that some storms could produce more damaging wind and tornadoes.

Over the next few days, widespread rounds of rain are expected to bring 1 to 4 inches throughout the South, which is dealing with a serious drought.

The National Weather Service Office in Jackson, Mississippi, will be conducting surveys on Thursday to confirm tornadoes along a major tornado path in Franklin, Lincoln and Lawrence counties as well as from Purvis to south of Hattiesburg, where there are several damage reports.