Severe storm causes damages, flooding throughout Northeast Mississippi region

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo)

Jan. 11--BALDWYN -- Severe weather on Saturday caused flooding and damage throughout Northeast Mississippi.

Baldwyn saw the majority of the region's damage, according to reports from both Lee County Emergency Management Agency coordinator Lee Bowdry and Bud Lindsey, the Prentiss County Emergency Management Agency coordinator.

Both agencies responded to reports of damage, which Lindsey said starts in Baldwyn and stretches over to Tishomingo County.

There were downed trees and scattered power outages throughout the county, including fallen power lines and large trees blocking both Thomas Street and the neighboring Community Road in Baldwyn. A tree also fell on the home of Community Road resident Anthony Dalrymple.

When the tree fell on Anthony Dalrymple's bedroom at 7 a.m. Saturday, his mother, Kay Dalrymple, was already there trying to help him get into the hallway and take shelter.

Anthony Dalrymple said the tree fell over right as his mother was about to move.

"The wind started blowing and everything, and it fell over. I was under the debris, and me being in a wheelchair, I couldn't get out, so she had to turn into Superman," Anthony Dalrymple said.

Kay Dalrymple agreed.

"I was throwing the debris away, and it wasn't even heavy," Kay Dalrymple said.

Both remembered smelling gas, and Anthony Dalrymple could see a broken gas line. The two quickly got out of the Community Road home before damage became worse.

"We're blessed, is all I know," Kay Dalrymple said.

A Cox Street home also saw damage. Neither Anna Clemons nor her nephew and children were home when a tree fell. Clemons found out about a tree falling in the bedroom of her daughter, Chloe Harper, near 8 a.m. from a text from her father-in-law. Suzanne Duggar said her grandchildren often stay over at her home on the weekends and was grateful they weren't there when it happened.

"I'm just so glad that they weren't home, because it went right through. It crashed off of her bed," Duggar said.

Family members came over at approximately 8:30 a.m. to help gather clothes, medications, pictures and whatever could be salvaged before rain damaged it. Duggar was able to save the family dog, who was home when the storm hit, and take him to her home.

Duggar said she believes the bedroom is completely gone and other parts of the home are possibly damaged. The family is working to contact their insurance company for the next steps.

"It will all come out in the morrow. God will take care of us," Duggar said.

Saturday's storm also caused roof damage to area businesses such as Will's Used Cars and Simmer Down. Baldwyn Middle School also received roof damage for what is now a storage building.

"We're in the process of evaluating the damage to our campus in order to make sure that our students and school personnel are safe to come to school on Monday morning," said Baldwyn School District Superintendent Jason McKay.

Prentiss EMA is currently supplying homes with tarp, cutting trees out of the road and working to get power back in service as quickly as possible. They will also be documenting damage to structures and ask people to report non-emergency damage to 662-728-0939 or leave a message with their office at 728-8198.

Saturday's wind and rain impacted several parts of Monroe County, such as Maple Street and Easthaven Drive in Amory and parts of downtown Aberdeen.

Monroe County Emergency Management Agency Director Donna Sanderson said one car turned over in floodwaters outside of Aberdeen with passengers inside, but they were rescued and are safe.

As of 11 a.m., she said more than 20 roads throughout the county were facing flooding issues. As of that time, she had no reports of water inside homes or businesses. There were also reports of two trees blown over in the county earlier in the day as the storm system came through the area.

In Pontotoc County, county supervisors, Algoma Mayor Harry Neal Corder and Pontotoc Mayor Bob Peeples reported no major structural damage to residences or businesses. District 2 Supervisor Mike McGregor reported that some trees had to be cleared from roads in the Thaxton Community.

In Ecru, Police Chief Matt Stringer said the winds were strong but no major damage had been reported.

"We are having some flooding issues on the roads and we had one car that went off the road, but no serious injuries," Stringer reported.

At 9:25 a.m., Pontotoc Electric Power officials reported a couple of residential outages, but no major widespread power outages in the county.

The Monroe Journal and Pontotoc Progress contributed reporting.

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Twitter: @Danny_McArthur_

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