Dozens of Wilkinson County residents found themselves in need of shelter after drenching rains from the thunderstorms that began Thursday night and continued into Friday morning flooded them out of their homes.
After approximately 5 to 8 inches of rain fell within a few hours, flooding damaged 26 homes in the Crosby area, and 18 apartments had about 8 inches of water inside the building, Wilkinson County Civil Defense Director Thomas Tolliver said Friday.
Tolliver said Crosby received the bulk of the damage once Foster’s Creek flooded early into the storm and began to engulf the town.
Since Crosby also crosses into Amite and Franklin counties, first responders were initially confused on which areas to send help.
“Because you have three counties coming into one, you don’t know which one is which,” Tolliver said. “You have to know where your residents are.”
In the Silver Creek area of Wilkinson County, about seven families were flooded out of their homes, and a number of people were rescued from rooftops during the flood by Wilkinson County firefighters, Tolliver said.
He said Friday afternoon that American Red Cross volunteers came to Wilkinson County to offer assistance, and he would continue to do assessments of the damage throughout the weekend.
In Amite County, Civil Defense Director Grant McCurley said Long Mire Gravel Co. in Crosby had about 2 inches of flooding inside a building but did not have any other major damage.
Neither county reported any injuries or fatalities due to the storms.
