By Matt Stuart
matt.stuart@vicksburgpost.com

About 500 Entergy customers were without power this morning while trees were downed and flash flooding was reported throughout the county due to a storm system that had dumped more than three inches of rain in the area in just nine hours.

More was expected this afternoon.

“Primarily, the heavy rain is the issue,” said Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer. “We’re expecting a brief lull in the rain before it picks back up this afternoon.”

Areas of North Washington Street and the junction of Paxton Road and Old Highway 27 were underwater while trees were reportedly down throughout the county.

Garnet Van Norman, director of the Vicksburg Public Works Department, said flooding was an issue in northern portions of the city.

He said portions of Levee Street by the Old Depot Museum were flooded and one car was caught in the rising waters.

Along North Washington Street, mudslides from the bluffs were reported from the Klondyke Trading Post to Haining Road.

According to Entergy’s website, power was expected to return to most Warren County customers by about noon.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said flash flooding presented the most problems.

“We did have several trees down blocking roadways, but the biggest inconvenience has been the flooding at the intersection of Paxton Road and Old Highway 27,” he said. “That’s an area where it is not uncommon for it flood.”

Pace said water covered the roadway from about 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

“That’s a major thoroughfare for people going to Hinds Community College, Warren Central and Beechwood,” Pace said, adding that multiple deputies diverted traffic throughout the morning.

Pace said that, with more storms expected this afternoon, drivers are encouraged to avoid driving overareas of roadways that are covered in water.

“You may think it’s several inches deep when instead that whole portion of the road has been washed out and you’re coming up on something that can swallow an entire automobile,” he said.