Flood waters could potentially damage roads and residential areas

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Heavy rain continued to wreak havoc in some parts of Mississippi which have caused some emergency managers to be on high alert.

While crews worked to make repairs from recent floods, more rain in the forecast is causing some concern.

Area roads flooded and saturated grounds caused trees to fall over.

Calhoun County Emergency Manager Randy Skinner urged folks to be prepared for the worst over the next few days.

Rushing water has been a common scene in Calhoun County. Parts of County Road 210 were under water Thursday morning.

“You’d be surprised at how fast water will rise,” said Skinner.

Emergency Management Director Randy Skinner spent Thursday afternoon checking roads and on area residents. At last three homes along this road could potentially flood if the water rises.

“Water rises faster than you can react to,” said Skinner.

Skinner said high flood waters are nothing to mess around with and he’s warning people to be on guard and don’t wait until it’s too late.

“I call it a silent killer because you can’t hear it and before you know it, it’s on you and you’ve got nowhere to go,” said Skinner.

The county has been trying to recover from previous flood damage. Damage that washed out roads and caused sinkholes.

Skinner said now crews may have to start back at square one.

“The repairs that we’ve already done, they haven’t quite set up yet. The ground hasn’t had time to set up yet with all the precipitation we’ve had. Our fear is the work we’ve already accomplished may be compromised.”

Back in February, floodwaters were so destructive it wiped out parts of County Road 200 causing a landslide wiping out parts of County Road 210. Now, the road comes to an abrupt stop.

“The road was just too much for the county road to handle,” said Skinner.

Skinner said he learned a lot from the last go around. This time he said they’re more equipped and ready to face Mother Nature head-on.

“We have a surplus of sandbags we can apply them as fast as we need to and we have boats on standby,” said Skinner.

Skinner said they can’t force anyone to evacuate.

He hoped that whatever rain falls over the next few days will come in small doses and not all once, keeping the damage minimal.