LOYD STAR — About 30 cows gathered together in a corner where they had some dry ground. Beside them a creek well above its banks roared through the timber and emptied into a low lying corner of the pasture. Bayous, creeks, fields and yards were full of water from severe weather which moved through Lincoln County and Southwest Mississippi this morning.

National Weather Service in Jackson issued a flood watch in Lincoln County until 6 p.m.  They also issued a flash flood warning until 2:30 p.m. due to saturated soils and projected rainfall throughout the day. Runoff from ridges into low lying areas will continue to raise the water levels of local bodies of water.

Homes in low lying areas could also be threatened with inundation and the NWS reminds drivers to be cautious on the road. Roadways could become flooded, washed out or closed. Three inches of rain fell in Lincoln County since midnight and the figure could be different depending where you are in the county.

The area continues to be under a tornado watch until 1 p.m. and the NWS says the area remains at an enhanced risk for damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph and golf ball sized hail. Tornadoes could still be spawned despite a lull in weather action this morning.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Chris Reid said there has been no damage reported from last night’s storm nor roads washed out by flash flooding Wednesday morning.

“Water is receding at this time in most places although we might have roads south of Brookhaven in places like Bogue Chitto that might have some flooding,” Reid said. “There is still rain in the forecast. If we get more rain people need to monitor the situation and don’t drive through flood waters, be very careful. Water could sweep your vehicle into the ditch so be careful. There could be debris in the road too depending on if things escalate.”

Reid said the bridges out in the county are fine at this time and county supervisors have been out riding the roads in their districts to check on things.

Without power

According to Southwest Electric, 27 customers are without power in Lincoln County, 29 in Copiah County and 100 in Franklin County. Entergy’s outage map shows 314 customers are without power in Lincoln County and 12 are without power in Franklin County.