Heavy rainfall, high winds and a few suspected tornadoes caused damage throughout the state over the weekend while flooding and downed trees presented the most problems locally.

Parts of Warriors Trail Road near the Big Black River were under three feet of water Sunday after the nearly four to six inches of rain caused the river to rise quickly and overtake the road by the afternoon.

“It is not unusual for the Big Black to do that,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “It is fed by local rains and tributaries, and, after a rain like the one we received this weekend, the Big Black can top its bank and get up on the road.”

The flooding was limited primarily to the gravel part of Warriors Trail. Pace said the intersection Paxton Road and Mississippi 27 and a portion of Bovina Cut-Off Road were also under water.

A small dam on a private lake near Bovina also burst, but did not threaten any roadways.

“It drained into a creek that ultimately drained into the Big Black,” he said. “This was an earthen dam that was at a point where a creek drained out of the lake.”

Pace said the biggest problem caused by the storm was trees falling into roadways.

“Yesterday and last night we responded to 32 calls for trees down in roadways,” he said. “They were not wind-elated, but the rain just soaked the root structures.”

About 450 Entergy customers scattered throughout the county were without power due to limbs and trees downing power lines.

Pace said two small mudslides were reported on Sherman Avenue and Villanova Road.

“We didn’t have high amounts of wind,” said John Elfer, director of the Warren County Emergency Management Agency.

Garnet Van Norman, director of the Vicksburg Public Works, said city streets saw local, limited flooding.

In Yazoo County, a child is believed to have been swept away by flash flood waters.

While authorities worked to find the 9-year-old girl missing since Sunday night, the state also was coping with heavy rains and storms that continued early this morning. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said a possible tornado damaged homes in Covington County, where seven minor injuries were reported. Wind damage also was reported in Neshoba County.

Officials with the Yazoo City Police Department said the girl was last seen around 7 p.m. Sunday and is believed to have been caught up in flood waters outside the back door of her parents’ house.

The 9 year old was last seen wearing a pink dress and red tennis shoes. Authorities are not releasing the identity of the girl.
Byram residents in the Robinson Estates also experienced some flooding. Residents had to park their vehicles at the entrance of the subdivision.
Elfer warned that another round of storms bringing lightening and thunder, as well as the possibility of 60 mile-per-hour winds and isolated hail, was expected to move into the area Tuesday morning.