runway were cleared . No flights were delayed , he said , and the airport is `` up and running . '' Mark Waddle , who works at the airport , said he saw the storm form . `` It was real small at first , '' said Waddle , an employee at the airport 's Budget Car Rental counter . `` All the clouds were twirling around . '' Waddle said he watched as the tornado touched down near the airport . `` It looked like it hit some kind of transformer because the whole sky lit up blue , '' he said . `` Then it kind of blew through the Tupelo airport . ... It was blowing so hard the trees were touching the ground . '' Waddle said he was not aware of any significant damage to the airport apart from overturned trash cans and debris in tree branches . `` All of the people and all the vehicles and everything are fine up here at the airport , '' he said . Bobbye Jones , who works at the Mississippi Department of Transportation in Tupelo , said the roof blew off the lab at the
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A tornado swept through parts of Tupelo , Mississippi , on Thursday , damaging trees , power lines and overturning a 18-wheel truck , a law enforcement official said . iReporter Graham Hancock saw damage Thursday at the Tupelo Furniture Market in Tupelo , Mississippi . `` Just a little earlier this morning , we began to get reports of damage starting from the west side of Tupelo , '' said Chief Deputy John Hall of the Lee County Sheriff 's Department . Hall said the storm moved north across the city to the Mall at Barnes Crossing . Nearby on U.S. 45 , an 18-wheel truck was overturned , he said . There were no reports of injuries , and Hall said authorities were assessing damages . Watch as a Tupelo resident describes the storm '' Jeff Snyder , general manager for the Mall at Barnes Crossing , said the shopping center sustained `` minor property damage . '' Terry Anderson , executive director of Tupelo Regional Airport , said the facility had minor damage , including some broken windows . He said the airport was closed for about 10 minutes while the taxiway and