passing near the University of Mississippi campus, and producing a path of or longer through the Holly Springs National Forest. This series of tornadoes apparently dissipated and reformed yet again near Abbeville. Areas in and near Oxford reported $500,000 in damage, the worst natural disaster in local history. Between Avalon and the Holly Springs National Forest the path ranged from in width. Yet another or more tornadoes may have caused damage between Bethlehem and Oakland, Mississippi, before continuing into Tennessee, where F3 damage occurred southwest of Middleton; there three homes were damaged, one of which was destroyed, with $40,000 in losses. A mobile home lost its roof and most of its walls. Several large trees were downed or splintered as well. The tornado dissipated shortly thereafter. Its path was just a few miles east of the areas affected by the F5 tornado for most of its path, and several counties were affected by both tornadoes. With 58 fatalities, the tornado is the deadliest in Mississippi since 1950; however, the deadliest Mississippi tornado on record in the 20th century killed 216 people in 1936. Non-tornadic effects Aftermath, recovery, and records An internal assessment by the Mississippi Power and Light Company determined that its infrastructure incurred the greatest wind-related damage in the company's history. Roughly half of its transmission towers were damaged in both Sharkey and Humphreys counties. One of the tornadoes attained F5 intensity in Louisiana, the only such event on record in the state, although the rating is disputed. The entire outbreak is the second-deadliest ever in February, behind only the Enigma tornado outbreak in 1884 and ahead of the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. February 21 was the fourth-deadliest day for tornadoes in Mississippi on record. See also List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak – Second deadliest outbreak on record in February Notes References Sources F5 tornadoes Tornadoes of 1971 Tornadoes in Louisiana Tornadoes in Mississippi Tornadoes in North Carolina Tornadoes in Ohio Tornadoes in Tennessee 1971 natural disasters in the United States February 1971 events in the United States