Private property damage across the county resulting fromThursday’s flooding has been relatively light, according toofficials.

The county received more than 10 inches of rain Thursday in astorm many residents are calling the worst in the past quartercentury.

The county received more than 11 inches of rain in a tropicalstorm a few years ago, but Thursday’s storm dumped more water in ashorter period of time to cause massive flash flooding in the cityand county.

Fortunately, however, officials are reporting few reports offlooding damages.

“We have about 20 to 25 houses that have water in them,” saidClifford Galey, director of Lincoln County’s Emergency ManagementServices. “Some are major and some are minor, but we’re stilltrying to determine which are which.”

Insurance agents are not reporting a large amount of damageclaims on homes or vehicles either.

“We have some claims on automobiles flooding,” said Alex BrabhamJr. of State Farm Insurance. “We have three vehicles and atravel-trailer on the Homochitto River in Meadville they weren’table to get to before it flooded.”

Brabham said he has received very few house damage claims,however, and they were all minor.

A spokesperson for Bobby Britt’s State Farm agency echoedBrabham. Their office also reported very few claims with mostlyminor damage.

It was a common thread among agencies. Mark Davis of DavisInsurance Agency, Inc. and Johnnie Lea with Insurance and RiskManagers also reported few claims.

“I was really surprised we haven’t received any major claims,”Lea said. “I was expecting more with all the flooding.”

Instead, she said, the agency has received claims on tworesidences and a business with leaking roofs and one claim on avehicle that received some water damage.

All the claims were for minor damage, she said.

Davis said the two claims he has received related to the stormwere to a pair of rural properties.

“We’ve only had a few (claims),” he said. “Both of them arewind-related and not from water damage.”

One had a tree blown over on a house and the other reported winddamage to a trailer home, he said.

Charles Fortson Jr. of Alfa Insurance said his office has notreceived any damage claims.

Damage in some areas is more severe than the insurance claimswould make it appear, however, Galey said. Some of the moreseverely damaged homes were not insured and therefore would not bereported.

“We have a few houses that were flooded that don’t haveinsurance,” he said.