Storm clean-up begins for Noxubee County citizens

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Clean-up started Monday for folks in Noxubee County.

The tornado destroyed nearly everything in its path, leaving debris in several areas.

Residents and county leaders said it was like waking up in a nightmare.

“It’s worst than what I thought it would be when I went outside and saw it,”said President David Barge, president of Forest Products Company.

The day after a tornado has always been the hardest. Homes destroyed and personal items lost.

For Macon resident David Barge, the tornado cost him his livelihood.

“We don’t have power. We had fiber internet, now, it’s down. It was on the poles. We’re trying to get a roof on our office to stop anymore rain from coming in there, and patch these other roofs temporarily,” said Barge.

Now, 74 of his employees are without a job.

This was almost the same reality for Noxubee County EMA Director Corey Brown.

“The path that it took could have easily turned and wiped out this center. It came within half a mile, or probably a little closer, in the EOC,” said Brown.

Brown said five homes, several power lines, and a lumber yard had the most damage.

However, guiding those citizens to safety was the biggest threat.

“The time the storm started to make its way into the county , as it got closer it started to knock out power. Unfortunately, we lost power here too as well so communication went down for a little while. We had no way of monitoring where the storm went,” said Barge.

That’s when Brown and his team had to assist the community with a blind eye.

“We started getting reports of damage coming in. The overturned tractor trailer on Highway 45, then we started getting reports of homes getting damaged. Then we started getting reports of roads with trees down, and we got a report that the Barge Lumber yard had some significant damage,” said Brown.

But fortunately, no injuries were reported.

“We are very blessed that we only suffered the damage that we did,” said Barge.

The Noxubee County Emergency Management Team will continue to assess the damage from Sunday’s tornado.

Brown urged all Noxubee County citizens if they have any storm damage to contact the EOC office.