PICAYUNE — Pearl River County officials late Thursday reported a number of county roads were under water, and said the situation could get worse as runoff from the constant rains drain off down area creeks and streams.

The National Weather Service said that a Flash Flood Warning was set to expire at noon on Friday, but weather and local emergency officials said Pearl River County residents should brace themselves for some flooding that may occur after the flash flood warning expires. The flooding is being generated by heavy rains from a slow moving cold front that transited the Pearl River County and South Mississippi region Wednesday and Thursday, and was forecast to continue to move out on Friday.

From 3 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Thursday, 4.65 inches of rain had fallen in Picayune, most of it between 3 p.m. Wednesday and 3 p.m. Thursday, the gauge at the Picayune Item at Richardson-Ozona Road showed.

Pearl River County road foreman Mike Mitchell said that some county roads are under water. “There’s just been so much rain that the culverts and bridges just can’t handle the runoff, and some are already flooding,” said Mitchell.

He said Barth Road, Hickory Grove Road, Jeff Williams Road and Walkiah Bluff Road reportedly had water running over sections of the roads. County Emergency Management Director Danny Manley said Harvey Burks Road in Pine Grove Community also had water over it.

Mitchell said the road department had received a number of calls from Northeast Pearl River County.

At noon on Thursday, East Hobolochitto Creek at Caesar was at 11.05 feet and was forecast to rise to 15.8 feet on Friday, which will cause what the Weather Service terms “minor flooding.” West Hobolochitto at McNeill was at 18.5 feet at noon Thursday and was forecast to hit 19.1 feet on Friday and was causing “moderate flooding” by Weather Service standards. Flood stage at both stations is 15 ft.

The chance of precipitation Thursday night and into Friday morning was 100 percent, the Associated Press reported.

The highs on Saturday were expected to be in the mid-80s.

The weather system has already claimed one life in Lexington, where a tree fell on a house, according to a MEMA release.

Between five and six inches of rain have fallen on parts of Mississippi since the storm moved in on Wednesday, MEMA reported.

National Weather Service meteorologist Marc McAllister said that crews were in Warren and Rankin counties on Thursday, trying to determine if a tornado had hit there, according to a The Associated Press report.

Already some homes in low-lying areas of Hancock County south of Picayune have been reported flooding.

Other reports were that damage had occurred in Franklin, Holmes, Pike, Randin and Warren counties, according to MEMA.

A Pike County resident told the Enterprise-Journal newspaper that her horse had been injured when power lines fell on him, according to the AP.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after strong thunderstorms dumped up to 15 inches of rain in Southwestern Louisiana and sparked tornadoes through Louisiana, the AP reported. However, no serious injuries were reported.

Weather forecasters say the system should work its way through the region by the weekend, which is forecast to be sunny and warm. The problem with the system was that its movement was slow, and it dropped torrents of rain on the area, Manley said.

Manley said Pearl River County Emergency Management personnel were monitoring the situation hourly.

Officials were also worried that the system might stall.

County officials said the real problem with flooding is that the worse usually occurs after the system passes, since East and West Hobolochitto creeks will receive runoff from almost the entire Pearl River County watershed north of Picayune.

The creeks drain the entire northern section of the county, and conjoin in Picayune to form Hobolochitto Creek, which flows into East Pearl River.

Said Manley, “The problem is all the rain that fell in most of North Pearl River County, which is a big area, has to come through the Hobolochitto drainage system that runs right through Picayune.”

When heavy rains cause the creeks to overflow, that backs up streams and ditches that flow into the creeks, causing flooding in neighborhoods and subdivisions that are near the creeks.

By early Thursday morning, county officials had reports from residents in some rural subdivisions about light flooding, and were hoping it would not get any worse.

However, the cold front was moving so slowly that officials were worried that heavy rains from the system could produce some severe flooding in some low-lying areas.

Officials were especially worried about some streets in East Picayune and Raven Wood subdivision near Alligator Branch between Nicholson and Picayune.

Officials also were afraid they might have to shut down the Sones Chapel Road again after opening it to traffic between McNeill and Millard this week at Double Branch, where a bridge replacement project is occurring.

Closure of the road causes long detours for residents who live north of the bridge project at Double Branch. The bridge was still open late Thursday afternoon.