Krista and I rode over to Tutwiler Saturday to see firsthand the flooding from the overflow of Hopson Bayou.
A couple of bridges and sections of several streets were under water even then, although some locals told us that the floodwater had begun to recede in their area.
Still, we observed automobiles, houses and even a church standing in water that appeared several feet deep in some locations.
It was not a pretty picture.
Heavy rains, first from a slow-moving low pressure system and then a fast-moving one late Sunday night and early Monday, dumped up to a foot or more of water on our area over a span of roughly five days starting midweek.
There were some breaks in the wet weather, but not enough of them before the damage was done to a lot of homes, businesses, roads and bridges around the state.
Washington County reportedly had the worst of it, with six homes destroyed, 91 sustaining major damage, 91 minor damage, and 10 businesses and 10 agricultural buildings seeing minor damage.
Tallahatchie had one home to receive major damage, seven minor damage, five homes otherwise affected and 28 roads damaged.
In neighboring Quitman County, 55 homes and two businesses had minor damage and eight roads received major damage.
Several of Krista’s relatives near Marks in Quitman County saw their yards get flooded by several feet of water that topped a levee they had built around the property several years ago in hopes of preventing this very scenario.
Unfortunately, the rain this time was relentless and overwhelmed the levee.
Krista rode to the Delta Sunday to visit with these relatives and to survey the damage. While she was there, the water rose about a foot.
They spent quite a bit of time Sunday sitting and visiting on a spacious front porch that by Monday, Krista learned, was covered with water.
Thank goodness the sunshine returned Monday and the forecast mentioned only a very slight chance of rain over the next week or so.
We need time to dry out.
