Friday night storm causes Saturday morning cleanup

Published 6:49 pm Saturday, April 7, 2018

A line of severe thunderstorms along the leading edge of a cold front stirred up high winds, dumped more than 2 inches of rain and possibly spawned a tornado as the system moved through the area Friday night and into early Saturday morning.

“There were a few tornadoes and straight line winds (in the system),” said Eric Carpenter, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Jackson.

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Weather Service meteorologist Nicholas Fenner said a survey crew was in Warren County to determine if a tornado touched down in an area south of the Vicksburg Municipal Airport.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said the storms produced 17 weather-related problems in the county, with trees falling and blocking roads and taking down power lines, and reports of water and mud on county roads. A tree fell on a house on Newitt Vick Drive during the storm, damaging the building.

Pace said county road crews were continuing the storm cleanup Saturday.

“As always, we appreciate the public’s cooperation as we try to clear the roadways. All in all, it was a good night, as tragic as it was for that one property owner. We only had one piece of property damaged,” Pace said. “The storm overall was probably not as bad as what we expected.”

At the height of the storm, Entergy reported 1,088 power outages scattered across the county, according to Entergy customer service representative Shelia McKinnis. Problem spots, she said, were in Bovina, along U.S. 61 South, and on Warriors Trail.

She said power was restored to about 647 customers by 10 p.m. Friday. Service was expected to be restored to the remaining customers by Saturday afternoon.

Inside the city, several streets were inundated with water during the night, and the rains caused some dirt slides on a section of North Washington Street between the Klondyke and the entrance to the Port of Vicksburg, North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said.

He said there was one report of a tree blocking Halls Ferry Road, and box culverts along North Washington silted up, causing runoff to backup and flow across the road, leaving mud and debris.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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