Steady rains force some Saltillo residents to evacuate

SALTILLO, Miss. (WCBI) – It was around 4 a.m. Friday when Danny Brown received a phone call.

Firefighters had knocked on his mother’s door, encouraging her to evacuate.

“The back corner was getting water in, within 30 minutes it was coming in the front,” said Brown.

Brown spent most of the morning getting various items from his mother’s house, in case the waters continued to rise in the Willow Creek subdivision.

Other residents moved what they could. Although, part of the neighborhood is in a flood zone, no one remembers the waters ever getting this high.

“This is the worst area, we are covered here by about one square mile, just a lot of rainfall, continues to fall,” said Saltillo Alderman Copey Grantham.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors issued a disaster declaration because of the flooding, that will make funds available for cleanup after the water recedes.

“There will be truck load and truck load here that will be disposed of and hauled away and we will be able to help them in that aspect,” said supervisor Phil Morgan.

State Senator Chad McMahan said help will also be on the way from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

“MEMA is here, we’re also going to work with them to see what kind of funds can be brought to bear to help people rebuild their lives, flooding is a terrible thing, but most important thing now, no one was hurt.,” said senator McMahan.

People are encouraged to stay weather alert, and to heed any calls to evacuate if the rain continues.

Crews from Tombigbee Electric cut power to some homes in the subdivision as a precautionary measure.