Winter storm impacts city services, schools, community college
Itawamba students won't have to make up snow and sleet days
ITAWAMBA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – While city offices in Fulton have been closed all week, street crews have been working to clear the main streets.
Mayor Emily Quinn said the freezing weather has disrupted a lot of city services, but overall, things have gone well.
“The pipes are starting to thaw out so we have gotten a few calls regarding flooding issues. If that happens to you, call 911 and they contact our utility department. Streets, looking at ours, are drivable now in Fulton. You can also see my trash can. Trash has not been able to run all week long,” Quinn said.
Schools have also had an unexpected break. Itawamba County Schools Superintendent Trae Wiygul said while main roads were clear, many of the county roads were still iced over, and that, he said, was simply too big of a risk for students and staff.
Wiygul also said the missed days will not have to be made up.
“As long as it’s in our board minutes that the superintendent is granted permission by the school board to call days off for weather issues, we are good. And when the Governor declares a state of emergency, we do not have to make those days up if we have that in the minutes,” Wiygul said.
At the main campus of ICC, many students who live on campus went home last weekend and haven’t returned. However, about 200 students stayed in their dorms. And they had to be fed. So, the dining hall had special hours for those students.
And even though classrooms were empty, technology allowed instruction to continue.
“All classes offered at the college have some component of an online piece, through student learning platform, every instructor through this closure has been able to provide some content for students to access from afar,” said ICC Chief of Staff Tyler Camp.
Fulton’s mayor, the superintendent of Itawamba County Schools, and ICC’s chief of staff are all hopeful things will return to normal early next week.
All governmental agencies and educational institutions will post updates this weekend about plans for Monday.
