Doris and Harvey Sykes were sleeping soundly in bed Tuesday night when Doris awoke to a neighbor’s tree crashing through their bedroom ceiling, pinning her to the bed.
“I woke up and thought, ‘Oh Lord, is the world coming to an end?’” Doris Sykes said. “I was so scared.”
Harvey Sykes and their two granddaughters worked together to hoist the tree off of Doris, just high enough for her to crawl out from under it.
“Every time they lifted it up, I could hear it cracking more,” Doris Sykes said. “I said, ‘Oh Lord, please get me out of here.’”
Luckily, Doris escaped with just a few bumps and bruises on her head, though the Sykes will have to reside in a motel for the next three days while their home of 23 years is repaired.
The tree came crashing through the Sykes’ home at 500 Redwood St. in East Columbus about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday as high winds ripped through the state. In the Golden Triangle, winds reached as high as 29 mph with gusts of 49 mph, according to data from the National Weather Service.
Cindy Lawrence, Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency director, said between 30 and 35 trees were downed throughout Columbus and Lowndes County as a result of the storm. Aside from the Sykes’ home, no major damages were reported, she said.
Jon Turner, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for 4-County Electric Power Association, said at the height of the storm, about 3:30 a.m., approximately 2,058 meters were out in Lowndes County and 1,340 were out in Oktibbeha.
Turner said 288 Lowndes County members were still without power Wednesday morning. He expected power to be fully restored to all residents by the end of the day Wednesday.
Despite the extensive outages, Turner said this was a “pretty typical” weather event.
“The issue with this one is that there were lots of smaller outages which makes restoration take a little longer due to the travel between outages,” Turner said. “You get 10 people turned on then you go another 15 miles and start again and maybe get five people on, etc.”
The travel time between smaller outages left many residents without power for between two and five hours, Turner said.
Angela Verdell, general manager of Columbus Light and Water, said as of noon Wednesday, there were still about 100 power outages in Columbus concentrated on Southside, as well as in areas near Highway 45 and along Hospital Drive. Verdell said she expects power to be fully restored by the end of day Wednesday.
Starkville and Oktibbeha County
Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency Director Kristen Campanella said she received several reports of downed trees throughout Starkville between 2 and 9 a.m.
One downed tree near the intersection of Russell Street and Lampkin Street caused a major gas leak around 7 a.m. Wednesday. Campanella said the leak was contained very quickly and posed no danger to the public.
Another downed tree fell onto a house on Pueblo Drive in Starkville, though no injuries were reported.
Tiara Cole, operations coordinator for Starkville Utilities, said about 40 Starkville households lost power between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, all of which have been restored. As of Wednesday afternoon, the only area in Starkville still without power is a cluster of businesses located in the shopping center at 100 Russell St. after a tree brought down a power line.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
