Heavy Rains Cause Flooding Across Northern Mississippi

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Heavy rainfall this week has flooded roads and neighborhoods in parts of north Mississippi, and forecasters said Thursday that more rain was expected.

The National Weather Service said more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell in Tallahatchie County from Tuesday to Thursday.

Rising waters forced evacuations Wednesday in the Willow Creek subdivision in Saltillo, near Tupelo.

In Yalobusha County, rain swept away a section of a road east of Water Valley. A truck crashed into the hole and crews rescued the occupant, WTVA-TV reported. Lee County officials Wednesday closed a section of road after the underside swept away but the road surface remained intact.

Oxford resident Jamie Mardis told WMC-TV that he received a text message Wednesday from the nurse who does in-home care for his 4-year-old son. Rain had fallen throughout the previous night.

“She said, ‘You might want to go close the garage door because it’s coming down pretty good,” Mardis said.

Within the hour, rain flooded Mardis’ yard and water moved into the garage.

“The water was all the way up to the bottom of the door seal,” he said, pointing at the duct tape barrier he had created. “So we started making steps to try and get the furniture up inside and get prepared for the floodwaters inside the house.”

Mardis said the water kept rising rapidly.

“I was scared. I was afraid I might lose everything I got,” he said “You know, this is what I’ve been working for the last 10 years, all piled up in this house.”

Mardis’ son, Liam, has a medical condition that requires around-the-clock care and expensive medical equipment in the home. Liam had been taken Tuesday night to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and the water never reached the inside of the house.

Flooding happened throughout Oxford and Lafayette County.

“It blew out some roads, blew out some culverts,” said Joe Bynum, the county roads manager.

Emergency officials in Lafayette County told residents to evacuate several homes Wednesday after heavy rain created concern about a dam on a small lake. Crews from the county fire department pumped water out of Tara Lake to relieve pressure on a levee near the Tara Estates and Gum Tree subdivisions outside Oxford. A sinkhole was forming on the levee by the lake, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The fire department said late Wednesday that people were allowed to return to their homes.

About the photo: Alex Wilcox pulls his canoe along the road of Willow Creek Drive with “Scout” riding along in order to get him safety following flash flooding, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Saltillo, Miss. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)