Floodwaters inundated Southwest Mississippi on Saturday after more than half of foot of rain fell in 24 hours, swelling rivers, creeks and lakes throughout the area and overwhelming city drainage systems.
Swiftwater rescue teams responded to multiple calls, including to 8 Point Drive in northern Pike County near the Boge Chitto River, where a man and a 1-year-old were reportedly trapped inside a house, and to Irene Road near the Pike-Amite County line.
In Summit, so named for being on high grounds, business owners on the north side of Robb Street were cleaning up Saturday afternoon after floodwaters lapped over the sidewalk and got inside every storefront.
At Honeysuckle Trail, a Summit trailer park on Martin Luther King Drive, floodwater from the formerly dry bed of Lake Bevin on Highway 51 rushed through culverts and flooded a low-lying row of houses and cars.
In McComb, residents stood near vehicles caked with debris past wheel wells, showing the high water mark from flooding that had occurred in the middle of the night on Pine Street near Dyson Street.
Residents blamed the problem on clogged stormwater catch basins.
The water had receded by daybreak, but throughout Burglund and East McComb, flood debris piled onto city streets, including Michigan Avenue and Argyle Street, which was underwater.
They said water had made it past their doorsteps and into their homes.
By the time water had receded in the northern part of the county, flood-prone areas in Magnolia began to be inundated.
An RV campground on the banks of the Little Tangipahoa River whose campsites were mostly dry just hours earlier were flooded by mid-afternoon, with water overtaking vehicles and campers.
Portable buildings floated in more water that in places exceeded an estimated 6 feet at Worldwide Companies across Highway 48.
Nearby, the South Pike School District’s bus barn and a fleet of buses were surrounded by floodwater.
Residents at Lake Dixie Springs posted videos to social media on Saturday morning showing water inside their homes.
Elsewhere, flooding was reported near Felder’s Campground, which is adjacent to Topisaw Creek, and nearby Turnpike Road.
The National Weather Service reported Saturday morning that the area had received about 61/2 inches of rain since Friday.
The flash flooding followed severe weather that spawned a tornado that touched down in Walthall County on Friday, causing some structural damage to a few homes near Kokomo and Knoxo.
