(Reuters) - A tornado struck the south-central Mississippi town of Hattiesburg on Sunday, causing damage to the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, authorities said.

CNN reported at least three people injured.

"A tornado did touch down in Hattiesburg" at about 5:30 p.m. local time, Jim Hennessey, a spokesman for the Forrest County Emergency Management District.

"We're still getting damage reports," he told Reuters. "We haven't been able to verify the location where it touched down, and we have no verified reports of injuries at this time."

He added that there was unspecified damage to the USM campus, and CNN reported that a local high school was hit by the twister. CNN also broadcast footage of the tornado that was posted to YouTube.

(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson and Chris Francescani; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Doina Chiacu)