PICAYUNE —
Many roads in Pearl River County are currently impassable due to flood waters. Also, all schools in Pearl River County will be closed until Tuesday, Sept. 4. That includes Pearl River Community College.
Hurricane Isaac sat on top of the area dumping large amounts of rain all over the county. Flooding has been reported throughout the county and many roads are impassable.
According to a release from the Pearl River County Emergency Management Office road closures have occurred at Harvey Burks to Wheat’s Curve on Hwy. 43N; Panther Circle; Liberty Road near Rosemary; Sections of Sycamore from the 700 block to Rayburn Road; Magnolia Ridge; several sections of Walkiah Bluff; Charlie Kellar Road; Davis Dawsey/Jackson Landing/Union School; N. Beech Street between city limits and Hwy. 43 N; East Boley Road; Go Go Road; Hwy. 26 East; Westchester and Inside Road; Dupont Harts Chapel Road near Hwy. 11; Homer Ladner Road near the bridge; Stanford Lake Road at Buck Branch; Savannah Millard Road between the bridge and the jail; Derby-Whitesand Road near Osborn Moody Road; Hilt Fornea Road; Progress Road/8 Mile Bridge; Silver Run/Wolf River; I-59 Red Creek/Wolf River; Henleyfield-McNeill Road at Don Burge Road; Barth Road 1 mile from Hwy. 53; Fords Creek Road; Mitchell Baughman Road; Hwy. 43 North near Picayune; Liberty Road washed out at Magee Creek; John Amacker Road at Whitesand; Holden Road; Chester Lee Road; Olivia Lane Moonbeam Road; Elshaddai Road and Tobacco Road.
Motorists should not try to cross flood waters that flow over a street. Light vehicles can be swept off the road by the water, or the water may cover hazards the driver would be unable to see. Emergency Operations Center teams performed three swift water rescues during the storm. Two of those rescues were needed because motorists attempted to cross the running water but became stranded. The third was a resident attempting to evacuate a home during the rising waters but also became stranded.
Barriers and tape have been set up at the closed roads and the EOC advises that it is a crime to tamper with the barriers or tape.
Mayor Ed Pinero Jr., said the response by public works and city emergency responders was a major success in keeping roads cleared and residents safe. Also preparations to clear out drainage branches and storm drains prior to the storm helped keep flooding in the city to a minimum. However, flooding could still occur in areas that historically flood, such as Woodglen Cove, Pinewood Drive and Merrydale Drive, Pinero said. Low-lying areas around Main Street may also flood. This flooding would be the result of water that fell north of Picayune moving south towards the Gulf Coast.
Pine Grove Volunteer Fire Chief Steve Seal said he and his crew made attempts to alert residents in Westchester about the impending flood waters. Some left, while others stayed. Flooding inside homes in Westchester is believed to have occurred already. Other homes along Beech Street are in danger of flooding as water levels continue to rise.
Coast Electric Power Association is working to restore power to homes without power. A release from the company states that at the height of the outage, about 30,000 of the 79,000 homes the power company serves were without power. By Thursday morning company crews had brought that number down to about 16,000.
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