Around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 8th, a severe storm that generated several tornadoes swept across a segment of the park in northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama. In Tupelo, headquarters employees and visitors took refuge in the basement of the administrative building as the tornadoes passed overhead. Parkway facilities were spared, but nearby shopping centers, homes and other buildings received moderate damage. The parkway was temporarily closed near milepost 282 when large trees were felled by high winds. Fire management saw crews responded and cleared the road within a short time. Due to damage in the local community, all traffic, including commercial traffic, was temporarily rerouted from damaged areas onto the parkway. One park employee received a minor injury when the store he was in received a direct hit.
