STARKVILLE – The last place Brewski’s owner Ashley Ray expected to find her roof Sunday night was wrapped around a utility pole.
Ray received a call at about 10:40 p.m. from a staff member at the seafood market and gas station after the power suddenly went out. When the employee stepped outside to check on the outage, she saw massive pieces of the building’s tin roof draped over power lines, with other sections wrapped around the bottom of a nearby pole.
“We’re really not sure what happened,” Ray told The Dispatch on Monday. “It was kind of crazy. … I guess we just got to figure out how we’re going to cover our roof. Hopefully it doesn’t rain.”
Brewski’s, located on the corner of Highway 12 and Louisville Street, was one of just two locations in the area to report significant damage from Sunday night’s thunderstorm, which brought heavy rain and wind gusts up to 26 mph through the Golden Triangle.
Earlier in the evening, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the region, though no tornadoes were reported.
The airborne roof cut a power line and knocked out electricity to a swath of nearby businesses and residents for several hours. Just down the road, the storm also brought down a tree onto a home along Green Street around midnight.
Jarvis Boyd, director for the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency, said the tree caused significant damage but did not fully fall through the structure.
“We did have an opportunity to respond with the first responders and ensure that all the residents were safe, and there were no injuries reported,” he told The Dispatch.
In Lowndes County, EMA Director Cindy Lawrence said the city and county were spared from any major damage. The storm brought down about two trees and caused sporadic power outages, though the outages were brief. No damage to homes or businesses were reported.
At Brewski’s, clean up efforts began immediately.
Despite the damage above, the building’s ground floor, which houses the convenience store and food service area, remained open Monday, with customers stopping in throughout the day.
Meanwhile upstairs, Ray and her management staff worked behind computers in the second level office area as water pooled into the carpet around their feet. Ceiling tiles were swollen and heavy with moisture, and bits of sunshine poked through openings where sections of the roof had been torn away.
“We came up here last night … and basically tried to move everything out of the way of running water,” Ray said. “There’s not much you can do when it’s downpouring like that. … We’ve been cleaning and trying to figure out filing insurance claims and all the stuff this morning.”
Monday morning, the weather delivered one more surprise as Ray began hauling away pieces of the damaged roof and surveying the debris scattered around the property – it began to snow.
“It was kind of crazy,” she said. “… It’s the craziest weather of all time.”
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 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
