UPDATE 2-23-2019:
MDOT crews are out monitoring Mississippi highways and working to keep travel safe. Please remember to never drive through flooded roads.
At this time, in DeSoto County, there is flooding on MS 305 between Ingrams Mill Rd and Vaiden Rd, 305 is closed in both directions.
In Lafayette County, MS 328 between a half mile west of MS 7 and CR 321 is closed due to flooding.
There is also flooding on MS 355 between CR 29 and MS 30 in Union County, closing the road in both directions.
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As the rain continues to pummel the Mid-South, folks are already being evacuated in North Mississippi. Rescue crews are evacuating the area near Enid Lake in Panola County.
The water is definitely rising in places. Local 24 News crews have been all over north Mississippi Friday and the rain has been steady.
Panola County is getting hit pretty hard with flooding, as is Grenada. Emergency crews and law enforcement are keeping a close eye on the weather and how it’s affecting travel.
The Coldwater River is beginning to flood over its banks, which affects several residential areas in Marshall and DeSoto Counties. It hasn’t flooded roads yet as of Friday afternoon.
Ditches and creeks are at capacity in Byhalia, and people’s yards are starting to flood.
No roads in Marshall or DeSoto Counties are closed as of Friday afternoon, but officials are monitoring the weather closely because that could certainly change as the rain keeps coming down.
The ground is already saturated so there’s really no where for the water to go.
And flooding isn’t the only concern.
“We’ve got law enforcement that will be out all night, you know, seeing what’s going on and reporting back,” says Hugh Hollowell, EMA Director, Marshall County. “The big issue is, of course, flooding, but if we get wind, the ground is saturated and all these large trees we have in the county, the root system is gonna be unbalanced.”
DeSoto County road crews checked out Holly Springs Road near Hernando about 3:00 p.m. It’s usually one of the first roads to flood, but it was still open for the time being.
DeSoto County Emergency Services Deputy director, Josh Harper, showed us some of the equipment rescue crews might have to use if they’re called out. They have nearly a dozen inflatable and aluminum rescue boats ready to go.
“We’re slowly starting to see the water come up and getting areas that normally flood on a regular basis,” says Harper. “And we’re surprised that we’re not seeing as much flooding as we normally do, that’s because of a lot of the mitigation efforts we’ve done in the last few years. We’ve cleaned, widened, and dredged the bottoms of creeks to be able to help them handle a lot more water volume.”
The swift water rescue team is part of MS Task Force One, which is made up of about 30 first responders from all over north Mississippi.
