Families rescued in rising flood waters at Jakes Trail, and some locations in Brookhaven
Published 7:10 am Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Several families were rescued Tuesday morning after heavy rain flooded a creek and pushed water into the yards of several mobile homes on Jakes Trail.
Deputies with Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, firefighters with New Sight Volunteer Fire Department and an officer with Brookhaven Police Department assisted with Lincoln County Emergency Management with the evacuation, Emergency Manager Clifford Galey said.
Police Cpl. Jonathan Alford drove BPD’s recently purchased humvee, which was used to get several residents and at least one dog out of their homes, which were surrounded in some places by four feet of water from a nearby creek which usually dumps into the Bogue Chitto River.
“The water came up and they didn’t have any way to get out, so we went in and got them,” Galey said.
The rescue was some time after 10 a.m. By noon, the water started to recede, he said.
New Sight VFD Chief Cory Smith said several of his volunteers joined the other first responders to help get the people out safely. He’s used to high water in that area.
“It’s never been a rescue before, but it floods every time we get a torrential rain,” he said.
The humvee was also used a few times within the city limits for some water rescues, Police Chief Kenneth Collins said.
Residents at multiple locations in flooded areas of the city called for assistance from police because they couldn’t get out of their homes, Collins said.
According to the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Hwy. 43 between New Hebron and Joe Buckley Road is closed until further notice due to flooding.
The threat of flooding is limited, though showers and storms producing torrential rainfall will persist through the rest of this afternoon, according to NWS. Locally higher rainfall amounts in a short period of time can lead to flash flooding, especially in areas that saw heavy rain on Monday.
As much as 10 inches of rain has fallen in the area in the past 24 hours, according to meteorologists. Photos of the flooding show water approaching houses and parked cars with water above the tires.
A Waste Pro garbage truck near Rogers and East Washington streets was hit by a falling tree limb that stretched across the road, Police Chief Kenny Collins said. The driver and passenger were able to climb out and were not injured, he said.
RB wall in Brookhaven courtesy of @fisherwarren3 pic.twitter.com/K5dupwUCBm
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Behind my Mamaw's house on Lipsey st in Brookhaven pic.twitter.com/5hLfK8zmmY
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