Lincoln County and Brookhaven officials are still assessingdamages following a Thursday storm that dumped approximately 10inches of rain on the area.

Civil Defense Director Clifford Galey was inspecting floodedcounty roads Friday morning after city and county boards declaredlocal states of emergency Thursday. He is staying in contact withofficials regarding storm-related damage.

“I’m finding several places where water washed over the roads,but the water has gone back down,” Galey said.

In the county, Galey said two or three roads in District Oneremained closed, five in District Two, four in District Four andthree in District Five. He said he had not spoken with DistrictThree Supervisor Nolan Earl Williamson about roads still closed inhis beat.

“I’m sure he’s still got a bunch,” Galey said.

At least four motorists became stranded while trying to gothrough flooded areas. Galey said two stranded motorists werereported Thursday on Fern Lane and one on Weeks Lane, while anotherwas reported Friday around 2:30 a.m. on South WashingtonStreet.

Supervisors reported several roads had been able to be reopenedFriday morning. They said crews were concentrating on making roadspassable.

“We’ll come back next week with a full slate of repairs,” saidDistrict Four Supervisor W.D. “Doug” Moak.

Galey urged motorists to observe caution as flood waters recedethroughout the day.

“When the rest of the water recedes, we’re going to have somemajor washouts,” Galey said.

District Five Supervisor Gary Walker also asked motorists to bepatient as crews continued repairs. He expressed concerns aboutdamage that may become apparent after waters go down.

Regarding storm-related injuries, a man on Allred Drive wasreportedly hit by lightning around 10 o’clock Thursday morning. Theman’s identity was unavailable, and officials said his injurieswere not believed to be serious.

Galey knew of no other storm-related injuries.

Among other damage, Galey said several homes in the city andcounty were were flooded. He did not have an exact number.

“We’re going to try to get back at it this morning and see howmany it was,” Galey said.

The heaviest amount of rain fell between 10 a.m and 4 p.m.Thursday, with five inches reported at Galey’s office. In additionto that, Galey said 2.5 inches fell between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 10a.m. Thursday and another two inches between 4 p.m. Thursday andmidnight.

“It’s going to be right at 10 inches from this one storm, at myoffice,” Galey said.

At the city’s waste water treatment plant south of town, 5.85inches were reported between 7:30 a.m. Thursday and 7:30 a.m.Friday.

Galey recalled 11 inches of rain falling during a storm severalyears ago.

The states of emergency declarations will allow the city andcounty to address whatever needs to be done in response to thestorm and to utilize volunteers where needed, Galey said. If thereis sufficient damage, a disaster can be declared.

“We’re not at that point yet,” said Galey, adding thatapproximately $1 million in damage would be needed for adeclaration.

If a disaster is declared, Galey said state officials would bedispatched to survey the county and see if disaster criteria hasbeen met.

Area utility company officials reported scattered power outagesthroughout their service areas. Many customers had power restoredduring the night.

“Everything in Lincoln County was back on, probably, by 10 or10:30 last night,” said Kenny Goza, Entergy customer accountmanager.

Entergy outages affected 2,200-2,300 customers.

Of those, 1,500 were due to eight downed poles and lines on OldHighway 51. Goza said the poles were back in place by 6 p.m.

“We had as much trouble as anybody yesterday,” said Goza, alsomentioning a broken pole in Coopertown Road. “We had the mostdamage that I know about.”

Goza said approximately 100 Entergy crewmen and contract workerswere in the county Thursday working to restore power.

In Copiah County, Goza said about 200-300 customers lost powerat some point during the day. Those were back on by by 11:30p.m.

“Brookhaven, Hazlehurst and Crystal Springs were the hardest hitareas,” Goza said.

Tom Provance, operations manager for Southwest Electric PowerAssociation, said there were numerous outages, but he did not havean exact total.

“We had everybody back on by yesterday evening,” Provancesaid.

He said rain had washed away some utility poles in Copiah andWilkinson counties. The worst damage in the Southwest EPA area asHighway 61 around Natchez, he said.

Aaron Achord, engineering and operations manager for MagnoliaElectric Power Association, said 700-800 customers lost power. Hesaid it appeared the worst of the storm went to the west of theassociation’s area.

“We didn’t get hit hard at all,” Achord said.

Achord said one circuit went out Friday morning in Pike Countyand had affected over 400 customers. He said crews were restoringpower to customers in sections.

In Lincoln County, Achord said lightning struck a Mallalieusubstation. The substation serves an oil field pumping stations,but no residences, Achord said.