Flooding continued to impact residents in Lowndes County on Tuesday as rising waters from the Luxapalila Creek forced multiple evacuations north of Columbus.
Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Duane Hughes said there were three people rescued Tuesday morning from homes on Black Creek Road and Luxilin Drive.
Expecting the waters to keep rising until early this morning, officials spent the day Tuesday warning residents in low-lying areas to stay alert and prepare to leave if necessary.
“If you are in those low-lying areas where you know it floods, you need to get out now,” Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Cindy Lawrence told The Dispatch on Tuesday morning. “… We just want to make sure people stay safe and monitor the rising waters closely. If they need to move or they need some information, they can call our office anytime.”
A flood warning issued by the National Weather Service on Tuesday morning said minor to moderate flooding is expected to affect areas around the Luxapalila until late Thursday evening. The NWS in Jackson predicted the creek wouldn’t crest until after midnight this morning. Downpours across the South over the weekend increased flood dangers for states across the region, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
District 1 Supervisor Matt Furnari said he expects residents will be feeling impacts from the flood for at least another day. Flooding in Steens was especially bad around the community center, fire station and Steens Superette convenience store, he said.
Along with barricading roads, Furnari said the road department has been working to clear culverts and blockages to help mitigate some of the flooding, but for the most part, he said the county is just trying to be as responsive as possible.
“Because unfortunately, flood waters are flood waters,” he said. “A lot of time it’s just the area. There’s not a lot that can be done. It is better if it is a blocked culvert because we can relieve that problem. … But some issues we just can’t solve. We just want to inform people as much as we can, keep them up to date and keep them safe.”
Board of Supervisors President and District 2 Supervisor Trip Hairston agreed with Furnari, telling The Dispatch heavy rainfall in other states, which is now flooding into Lowndes County, would be hard to prevent.
“Other than keeping ditches clear and that sort of stuff, which I think we’re trying to do,” he said. “But in certain areas, there’s not a whole lot you can do.”
Hairston said there were once plans to build a reservoir to hold floodwater in that area, but those didn’t pan out. Last year, the county obligated $4.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for water and sewer improvements throughout the county, and the county is always working to clear ditches, he said.
But sometimes, efforts to improve infrastructure aren’t a match for large-scale events like this, he said.
“When you have a flood event like what’s happening in Kentucky and all that water heading this way, it doesn’t matter how clean the ditches are,” Hairston said. “Some things you just can’t control. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do all we can do about keeping ditches clean, but five inches of water in a short period of time like we’ve had – it causes problems no matter what you do.”
Turn around, don’t drown
Lawrence told The Dispatch Tuesday morning several roads are closed due to the flooding, including Steens Road, Steens-Vernon Road, Black Creek Road and Luxilin Drive. Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said deputies patrolled the area Tuesday to write citations for drivers who disregarded barricades.
“Some of the vehicles that are driving down these roads that are closed are causing wakes of water to go up in peoples’ homes, and we’ve gotten a lot of complaints,” he said.
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, Hawkins said deputies had issued at least 35 citations to drivers who attempted to drive down closed roads.
“It is causing damage to the roads with the water being across the road like that,” he said. “We just want everybody to be safe. … If they live in that area, and they’re trying to get to their house, please call 911, and we can assist them getting to their residence.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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