Traffic patterns and morning commutes were disrupted today ascity and county emergency services personnel participated in adrill to simulate a train derailment in downtown.

The drill included nine adults and a child succumbing tochlorine gas fumes after a train derailed near the intersection ofRailroad Avenue and Chickasaw Street. The simulated accident alsoforced an evacuation of a 1.5-mile radius of the scene.

Officials with the Brookhaven Police Department, Brookhaven FireDepartment, Lincoln County Civil Defense, King’s Daughters MedicalCenter, the Southwest Regional Response Team of McComb, MississippiDepartment of Health and the Mississippi Emergency ManagementAgency, among others, were tasked with responding, evaluating andmanaging the mock emergency.

Brookhaven Police Chief Pap Henderson said officers had isolatedseveral square blocks around the simulated crash site shortly afterthe accident occurred around 8 a.m.

The roadblocks were removed around 9:30 a.m. as the focus of thedrill moved from the scene of the crash to the hospital, wherechlorine gas exposure among victims ranged from mild to severe.

Lincoln County Civil Defense Director Clifford Galey said thedrill gives local, regional and state officials an opportunity togauge how prepared their departments are to respond to a majoremergency.

Command and control, communications and cooperation amongagencies can be evaluated, and any discrepancies repaired beforethey could possibly prove fatal, he said.