Heavy rains that have dumped more than a half-foot of water in some locales in Tallahatchie Coiunty are threatening to cause widespread flooding, according to county Emergency Management Agency Director Thad Roberts.
"We've got some mostly minor, isolated flooding problems now, but if this rain keeps up it's going to be major," he noted late Thursday afternoon.
Tutwiler officials have asked Roberts' office for cots in the event they must provide shelter for residents of Tutwiler whose homes are threatened by the rising waters of Hopson Bayou.
"There is a good bit of flooding in Tutwiler," Roberts explained, noting that one low-lying bridge in the town that has been known for flooding during periods of especially heavy rain is under water now.
South Fork Tillatoba Creek near Charleston was still rising Thursday and could threaten homes in the Depot Subdivision if the rain does not soon stop, Roberts said.
However, weather forecasts call for strong chances of continued rainfall for the area each day through Sunday.
The National Weather Service in Memphis has issued periodic flash flood warnings for numerous counties in northwest Mississippi, including Tallahatchie, warning motorists in these areas not to drive through water-covered roadways due to the risk of having their automobile stall out or swept off the road. The oft-repeated mantra advises motorists who encounter flooded roads to, "Turn around, don't drown."
Roberts said portions of a half-dozen or more rural roads in Tallahatchie County were flooded as of Thursday afternoon, specifically mentioning several in the Blue Cane community, as well as Brown and Byars roads.
"There are several on the west side of the county, too, but I haven't gotten a list of those yet," he noted. Roberts said there is more water on the roads, and threatening more roads, on the west side, in the delta portion of the county, than in the eastern hill country.
Roberts said there have been a number of calls for sandbags, and the Tallahatchie County Road Department has been handling those requests at the county's central maintenance facility — the "county barn" located on Highway 32 Central.
Roberts was en route to Panola County to borrow more sandbags from officials there when he spoke with The Sun-Sentinel.
