NATCHEZ — What better way is there to ring in a new year than with fireworks glittering over the mighty Mississippi River?

That’s exactly what the Miss-Lou can experience at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 thanks to the non-profit Miss-Lou Fireworks and the generosity of the community, organizer Sabrina Doré said.

“We can always use sponsors but I didn’t hit very hard looking for them this year because it’s been a rough year for everybody,” she said.

“We had some overage from the last show (July 4) we were able to utilize,” she said, and Shelter Insurance agent Doré sponsored the rest.

More individual fundraising will be taking place in 2025 to encourage more individual support along with businesses,” she said.

“In 2025, we will be selling T-shirts to help with the fundraising,” Doré said, adding these would have funny fireworks phrases to garner support for the show. Look for more details and order forms on the Miss Lou Fireworks page, she said.

The New Year’s Eve show, while not quite as long-lasting as July 4, promises to be a “fun time for everybody,” Doré said.

While summer shows cost upward of $20,000 and lasts 20 minutes or more, this show only costs around $16,600, she said.

“We go smaller in the winter” so folks won’t be out in the cold for too long and can enjoy a larger show on Independence Day, she said.

The show starts at 6:30 p.m. so that youngsters may enjoy it also and lasts around 12 to 15 minutes, she said.

The best viewing locations are anywhere along the Natchez Bluff or Vidalia Riverfront.

To support future shows, cash or checks can be paid made payable to Miss Lou Fireworks and dropped off or mailed to 1636 Carter St., Vidalia, LA 71373. Or sponsors and individual supporters may also use Venmo or PayPal, she said.

“We try to make it convenient.”

For more information, call 601-807-9995.

One person died in the Liverpool area, located south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that weren’t considered critical, said Madison Polston, spokesperson for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.

Polston said there were “multiple touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool and Hillcrest Village and Alvin. She said that so far officials knew of around 10 damaged homes but were still working to determine the extent of the damage.

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In Mississippi, one person died in Adams County and two people were injured in Franklin County, according to a spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The National Weather Service said two tornadoes hit around Bude and the city of Brandon, ripping the roofs from several buildings.

“These storms are probably going to get a lot worse this evening and overnight the further east you go,” said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

It appeared that at least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, though they may discover there were more when crews go out to survey the damage, Litcher said. He said there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds.

North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.

The storms also caused departure delays of over an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston’s two main airports — Bush Intercontinental and Hobby — according to the website FlightAware.

About 71,000 utility customers were without power in Mississippi, and that number was expected to rise, said Malary White, chief communications officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency.

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The agency did not have any official damage reports but expected them to come in later. First responders were focused on ensuring people’s safety and making sure everyone was accounted for, according to White.

“We do anticipate more thorough damage assessments starting in the early morning hours,” she said.

A tornado outbreak threatened parts of the South on Saturday, prompting forecasters to issue a rare “particularly dangerous situation” alert amid severe storms that damaged homes and a fire station, according to preliminary reports.

Millions of people were under tornado watches on Saturday in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Multiple more dangerous tornado warnings were also issued throughout Saturday. (The National Weather Service maintains a list of current tornado alerts, which change frequently as tornado threats develop and pass.)

The “particularly dangerous situation” wording is used in “rare situations when long-lived, strong and violent tornadoes are possible,” the weather service said. “Numerous” tornadoes are expected, forecasters said.

Multiple homes were destroyed between Alvin and Liverpool, Texas, when a possible tornado went through the area Saturday afternoon, according to a preliminary report cited by the Storm Prediction Center. In Montgomery County, mobile homes were damaged and a roof was ripped off a home.

The East Montgomery County Fire Department said in a post on Facebook that Station 154 had sustained “extensive damage” from a tornado, but said there were no injuries reported.

One tornado is suspected to have touched down in Katy, Texas, in the Houston metro area, according to videos posted to social media by AccuWeather and other meteorologists.

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In Dermott, Arkansas, which was under a severe thunderstorm warning Saturday morning, forecasters said: “This destructive storm will contain baseball sized hail!”

The storms come after a previous round of weather hit parts of Texas and Louisiana on Thursday with multiple tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, AccuWeather reported.

Severe weather warnings and watches map

What’s a tornado watch, warning?

A tornado watch happens when weather conditions are prime to spawn tornadoes, and they alert people to be ready to act quickly in and around the area of a watch.

A tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or is indicated by weather radar, and there is imminent danger to life or property. During a tornado warning, people should seek shelter in interior rooms on the lowest floors of study buildings, and keep away from windows.

(This story has been updated to add new information and to correct a misspelling/typo.)