One-year-old Byron Washington holds an umbrella for his cousin, Essence Lyons, 7, as they stand among the puddles on National Street waiting for a school bus this morning. In the first two hours of this morning’s storm, Vicksburg received 0.14 inches of rain. It was expected to clear by day’s end.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[11/18/03]Vicksburg and Warren County received little storm damage this morning despite forecasts of heavy rains, high winds and possible tornadoes.

A few trees were reported toppled, said L.W. Callaway III, director of the Warren County Emergency Management Office.

“We had three trees down on U.S. 61 and LeTourneau Road, on Sea Island Drive and Mississippi 465 … and one down on Eagle Lake Shore Road,” he said.

Twin County Electric Power Association, with customers in the northern part of Warren County, reported scattered power outages.

Entergy reported scattered outages elsewhere in Warren County, said Cheryl Comans, customer service representative for this area.

“We had less than 100 across the county,” she said.

Ed Agre, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson, said the heaviest rain and thunderstorm activity was expected from 5 a.m. to noon today. He said the system was expected to move out of the state by late afternoon.

“There are some hints that there could be two different lines at that time, so we’re waiting to see if we’ll be dealing with one main squall or two separate lines,” Agre said. “At any rate, everything should be winding down from the west by midafternoon, and we’ll be pretty much out of it in about 24 hours.”

In the Vicksburg area, rain began about 5 a.m. and there were scattered heavy and light showers throughout the area. By about 7 a.m. today, 0.14 inch of rain had been measured at the Vicksburg Water Treatment Plant on Haining Road. By just before 8 a.m., 0.60 inch had been measured at Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport at Mound.

Agre said the forecast for the rest of the week was mostly sunny with highs in the 60s.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency also advised Monday that families develop evacuation and communication plans and have a disaster supply kit available