Storm damages county homes
Published 6:00 am Monday, January 10, 2005
A trailer home was destroyed and two homes damaged during apossible tornado strike in southeast Lincoln County Fridaynight.
“We had at least two houses with minor damage and one mobilehome was destroyed,” said Clifford Galey, director of the LincolnCounty Civil Defense.
The trailer home and one of the damaged houses was on PleasantHill Road with the other damaged house on Willow Lane, Galeysaid.
The owner of the trailer home was in it when it rolled and brokeup, Galey said, but emerged uninjured.
“There were no injuries during the storm that I am aware of,” hesaid.
Lincoln and Lawrence counties were under a severe storm watchfrom 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Galey said, and when the storm struckjust after 7 p.m. it brought down “a lot of trees and powerlines.”
A second man was stranded in his pickup truck for more than anhour on Pleasant Hill Road by fallen trees and downed power lines,Galey said. He had been traveling along the road when the stormhit. He pulled to the side of the road and parked for safety, butwas struck by fallen trees and power lines.
Galey said the man made contact with them through a cell phoneand was advised to stay in the truck until the power companyarrived to ensure the lines were not live.
“It took longer to get his truck out because we had to cut thetrees away,” Galey said. “From the looks of the pickup and themobile home, it was just a miracle we didn’t have anyinjuries.”
Clean up operations by volunteer fire departments, county crews,the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi HighwayPatrol lasted until well after midnight, he said.
The National Weather Service is visiting the county today todetermine whether the county was struck be a tornado, Galeysaid.
“It hit in a very unpopulated area of the county and that was ablessing,” he said.
Lawrence County also sustained some damage, according to theLawrence County Sheriff’s Department. There were no injuriesreported.
Randy Alexander’s mechanics shop on Highway 587 was destroyed byhigh winds and there were some trees down.