Crawford resident Jerome Monroe Sr. was headed to the post office Thursday morning but found the facility closed.
Water damage from the recent storms resulted in the temporary suspension of the post office on Main Street in Crawford, inconveniencing many residents who use the facility’s postal services every day.
“It was just filled with water,” Monroe said of arriving to the facility.
According to the National Weather Service website, the Golden Triangle has received 6.42 inches of precipitation since Sunday. By Thursday, it had caused flooding across the region, including road and bridge closings, as well as a temporary closing of the John C. Stennis Lock and Dam.
Crawford Mayor Willie Deane Parson said until repairs are made to the postal facility, Crawford residents can pick up their mail, retrieve packages and obtain retail services at the Brooksville Post Office at 11 Depot St. in Brooksville. Parson said she believes the restoration should not take longer than a week.
Although customers still have the ability to utilize postal services through the Brooksville Post Office, Parson said this may be a difficulty for some residents who do not have a means of transportation, causing them to wait until next week to retrieve or send mail. Residents can still pick up the mail that was previously delivered at the Crawford location.
“People use the post office every day,” Parson said. “It’s going to affect around 400 people.”
Also in Lowndes County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District (USACE) has temporarily closed the John C. Stennis Lock on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway due to high water levels and a runaway barge striking the spillway. Mobile District personnel are currently on site assessing the incident.
“The John C. Stennis Lock was not struck during the incident and is operational,” Chief of Operations Division for the Mobile District Nelson Sanchez said in a press release. “However, with water levels elevated due to recent rainfall, the lock is closed to navigation, and we are continuing to monitor the situation with our Water Management Division and do not foresee a long term interruption of commercial navigation.”
The high water levels at the lock and dam have caused flooding in surrounding areas, including Wilkins Wise Road. As of this morning, part of that road was still underwater.
Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Martin Andrews said firefighters had evacuated some people from flooded homes near Wilkins Wise Road and other parts of North Columbus Thursday evening, though he did not have exact numbers by press time. He said there were no injuries.
In Oktibbeha County, Emergency Management Director Kristen Campanella said her office received 10 to 15 calls Thursday regarding flooding in the county.
A mobile home in Montgomery Quarters LLC on Teagarden Lane in Oktibbeha County received extensive water damage. Oktibbeha County District 5 Volunteer Fire Department evacuated a family of four — a mother and three children — from the home at 10:42 a.m.
District 5 Assistant Chief Austin Check said he does not believe the living portion of the home received any damage, but water reached the entire skirt of the structure.
“It wasn’t that the interior of the home started to flood,” Check said. “It was that it was completely surrounded by a few feet of water.”
Oktibbeha-Starkville Emergency Response Volunteer Services (OSERVS) provided the family with hotel stay and money for food and clothing.
The bridge at the intersection of Garrard and Old West Point roads in Starkville is closed due to flooding, Campanella said.
“They are doing some emergency work done on it,” Campanella said. “Hopefully, that bridge will be opened by the end of the week, but for right now it is closed.”
Dispatch News Editor Isabelle Altman contributed to this report.
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