Recovery efforts from flash flooding are well underway, Lauderdale County and city of Meridian officials said Wednesday.
At a press conference, Lauderdale County Emergency Management Director Odie Barrett said heavy rain and wind Tuesday evening overwhelmed drainage infrastructure and caused flooding along the North Hills corridor and other areas of the city.
No fatalities were reported and emergency officials know of only minor injuries sustained during the disaster, Barrett reported. Damage to property, however, is still being assessed.
A local state of emergency has been declared due to the storms, and once damage estimates reach approximately $375,000, Lauderdale County can ask for a state declaration, Barrett said. Statewide, approximately $5 million to $5.5 million to qualify for federal disaster funds.
“We’re also looking at businesses, government buildings, any kind of infrastructure that may see some damage last night, that will also be included, and if possible, we’re going to try to get a state of emergency or a request for one after that,” he said.
Residents can report damage to their homes by calling 601-482-9852. Under FEMA guidelines, structures and areas not used for living space are not included in damage assessments, Barrett said, such as sheds, garages or patios.
While the flooding was unexpected, Barrett said the community was not caught unprepared. Lauderdale County, city of Meridian and town of Marion first responders, officials, road and public works and others worked tirelessly to help.
“That was a city, county effort working together for one cause and one purpose and that is to make sure our entire community was safe,” he said.
Residents displaced by the floods and needing housing assistance are encouraged to contact the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS. The organization is aware of the damage Meridian sustained, Barrett said, and residents can be put on their list for help.
Meridian Mayor Percy Bland said he was in a meeting when flooding initially occurred, and by the time he arrived on scene resources were already on route to help those affected.
“I told the guys when we were meeting this morning, to my knowledge, I didn’t know of anything like this that has happened all at once where we’ve had flooding in all sections of town, north, south, east and west all going on at the same time,” Bland said. “So, when you say historic and unprecedented, that’s just what we saw last night.”
Tuesday’s storms brought such a volume of water that there really wasn’t a way to prepare for what Meridian received. Cleaning ditches and clearing debris can help some, but nothing to the extent that would have prevented the floods.
“This was historic. This was something that you just don’t see, and with the amount of rain that hit in a short amount of time, there was nowhere for it to go but in the ditches and in the gullies,” he said.
Once the rain stopped, water levels fell rapidly, Barrett said. That shows the area’s drainage infrastructure was doing its job.